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smol-and-grumpy · 4 years

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Sky Full Of Stars - CH11

Sequel to Something Just Like This

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: He’s Dean Winchester, ex mobster boss, still a little cocky, less ruthless and not at all short tempered anymore. Instead, he thinks he’s hilarious (she doesn’t agree, though). They both try to live a quiet life. And Dean hopes, very hard, that his former life won’t come knocking at their door.

Warnings: Angst, mention of depression, fluff

WC: 3205

A/N: This is the end, guys. I’m sad. I hope you enjoy the last chapter and thank you for letting me take you on this fabulous ride ❤️

SERIES MASTERLIST

...SIX MONTHS LATER…

Dean’s sitting on their terrace in the big rocking chair. It’s already dark and cold. Ella’s sitting on his one thigh, cuddling close to him and Neo’s on his other side. Dean has a big blanket draped over all of them, so they would stay warm.

It’s only a little past 8pm but it’s the weekend and Ella doesn’t have to go to school the next morning so he spoils her by allowing her to stay up past her usual bedtime of 7pm. They finished roasting marshmallows in their fireplace in the backyard and they have now brushed their teeth and changed into their pj’s.

He’s doing that a lot with the kids now. He wants them to see the privilege of living so far out, wants them to see the beauty of being able to see stars. A view one shouldn’t take for granted. They’re outdoorsy, both of them love to be outside and play and he’s glad they have the chance to do that with their big garden and a treehouse by the creek.

Neo clasps his hand over Dean’s eyes while Dean looks up to the night sky.

“See? See?” The little guy says and Dean has to chuckle.

“Buddy, I ain’t seeing a thing. Where are the stars?”

And then Ella joins in, her little hands on his face, squeezing at his cheeks and then she covers his nose.

“And now I can’t even breathe,” He gasps, plays along.

The kids are giggling and Dean likes that, likes to hear them happy.

He begins to tickle them both, and both of them are writhing in his lap.

“Daddy, stop!” Ella’s still giggling like crazy.

“Stop doing what?”

“Tickling us!”

“Only when you guys will let me look up at the stars and it'll be nice if I could breathe,” Dean’s still tickling.

“‘K!” Neo says, the little boy still laughs wholeheartedly, and Ella seems to agree with her brother for once because they settled next to him again, both trying to catch their breath.

Dean stares up, the sky is full of stars tonight, that’s why it’s so cold out. Their breathing fog up but they’re warm underneath the blanket.

“What do you guys see?” He asks his children, sometimes their imagination run wild and they would see all kinds of things in the star’s constellation.

“Mommy,” Neo says.

“Mommy?” Dean asks and he squints his eyes, trying to see what Neo sees.

“Ah, I see her too,” Ella joins in.

“Yeah, now I see mommy too. Her nose is a little big, though,” The children are giggling again and Dean kisses the top of both their heads, “Come on, what else,”

“Princess!” Ella calls out.

“Dinosaur!” Neo tries to be louder than his sister.

Dean smirks and he just leans back, bathing himself in the momentarily joy.

They get interrupted not even fifteen minutes later, when Linda comes to stand next to him. “I think it’s time for bed now,”

Linda had moved in to help him take care of the kids and that woman still gives him the creeps sometimes. Dean would never admit it to her, though.

He gladly took the offer at that time, although he’s probably never going to get used to it. He even had another room built right above the garage so that Linda can live comfortably while she helps him. Dean didn’t want to employ a real nanny, didn’t see the need when he can rely on people he already knows and trusts. He has a hard time trusting anyone new lately.

“You heard Linda, guys,” Dean kisses his children good night and lets Linda take Neo from his lap. The little boy started to walk yesterday. Another milestone reached.

“Night daddy,” Ella whispers and pulls him down by the collar to give him another kiss.

“Night, El-baby,”

“The physical therapist just left,” Linda balances Neo on her arms. The boy is already so big, it makes Linda look even smaller than she already is.

“Okay,” Dean answers, and watches Linda go in with his kids.

Y/N can hear the chatter in her children’s rooms. Her room is black, only the light from the stars shining through the window. She looks up at the night sky, knows that Dean has spent the evening with the kids outside while she had her physical therapy session. Futile therapy sessions. With a private therapist who probably wants way too much money for the little progress they make.

“Hey,” She hears Dean slip in and he closes the door behind him, “You okay?”

He walks over, leans in to place a kiss on the top of her head.

Dean knows not to talk too much. She’s always frustrated and sad after a therapy session. If she can avoid it, she’d like to not see anybody at all.

She doesn’t answer him and Dean knows why, he’s used to it by now and it makes her feel even more guilty.

After Dean shot Crowley, Crowley’s finger managed to pull the trigger, shooting her in the back. Unfortunately it went through her body in a weird angle, injuring her spine and puncturing her lung, too. She’s been in the hospital for almost a month, half of the time was spent in an induced coma.

Waking up, Dean was by her side and it was a long road to get where she is now. Which is not really far and she doesn’t really know if she has the strength to go on. It’s frustrating when she works so hard without feeling or seeing any progress at all.

Dean kneels down and starts to massage her legs. He’s doing a daily range of motions exercises with her to help her along, not missing a single day since he started.

She watches him work on her legs, doesn’t feel a fucking thing at all and she’s tired, exhausted as hell after the therapy. Y/N doesn’t want to come across as ungrateful but she can’t help but wonder why he does all this. Why does he keep on going when everything seems so lost?

And maybe she shouldn’t have let her mind wander to the dark place but she’s there now and she’s angry at herself, at Dean, at everything.

“Why are we doing this, Dean,” It’s not really a question, more a fact. “Why are you still here?”

Y/N told him when he brought her back to the house that she’d get it if he wants to leave, maybe it’s still the effect of the words Crowley planted in her head. In fact, she even wants him to. Wants him to leave her and the children here and go live a quiet life somewhere without the burden of having to take care of the kids and her.

Because that’s what she’s become. A burden that Dean has to carry, with being the only one who can take care of the kids — because she doesn’t have the strength to do it yet — on top of everything else. He didn’t sign up for this life and she gets it, because she didn’t either but she’s unfortunately still here and she has to somehow make it work. There’s no need for him to stay with her.

Dean looks up at her, the crease between his eyebrows deepens. He looks hurt.

“It’s true. You’re doing so much but you don’t have to. I told you that I can manage. We’re going to be fine. Go have a boys week, I don’t know,” She’s tearing up and she actually doesn’t want to. Her grip on the arm of her wheelchair is tight, her knuckles are turning white. Dean’s unfazed, keeps on massaging the muscles in her legs, pretends he didn’t hear her, “You can still get out, you know. I don’t want to tie you down. I don’t want you having to take care of me. This is not what I fucking want!”

“Jesus Christ, Y/N! We’ve been through this, didn’t we,” Dean growls, he’s angry, she knows but she is too, so.

“And you know it’s fucking true! You’re always present. You’re taking care of all of us but who’s taking care of you, huh? We both know that it ain’t me, Dean! I can’t even take care of myself! You don’t deserve this! You deserve something better,”

“Shut up,” Dean snaps, but his hands aren’t stilling, he continues to knead at her muscles.

“You tend to our needs but what about you? What about your needs?”

“Fucking Christ, Y/N, shut up!” He gets loud and it makes her flinch.

She’s biting back at him though, “Tell me, what do you want, Dean? It sure as hell isn’t this fucking life! Tell me, what do you really want?!” She’s shouting and she can’t stop crying.

Dean places her leg back and rubs over his face with both his hands. Her heart thumps in her chest, she knows that she’s being unreasonable but she’s really not doing great at the moment.

“I need you, alright?” Dean’s loud and he’s shaking, “I fucking need you! How do you not get that?” He’s slowly breaking. She can see the tears pool in his eyes, see his shoulder trembling, “I FUCKING WANT YOU!” He screams before he lays his head in her lap, his arms hugging her middle when he begins to sob with his face buried in the cleft of her thighs.

She’s sobbing with him, strokes at his hair, her hands wandering down his trembling back as far as she can reach.

Dean’s breakdown was long overdue. She heard from Cas that he didn’t shed a tear once. Didn’t let himself show any emotions at all except for when he’s around his kids.

All Y/N said was true though. She doesn’t want that for him. Dean didn’t deserve that. But she might have gone overboard as well, triggered by her own frustrations and insecurities. And maybe she did use that to get him to break. She needed to get it out somehow. Maybe they all need to break in order to be able to put the pieces back together again and make it better.

He comes up, sniffs and brushes at his face with his hands before he takes his wet hands and cradles her face with it. He brushes at her tears with the pad of his thumbs and leans his forehead on hers, “I fucking want you to come back to us, alright? It physically pains me to know that your mind makes you think you’re worthless. I want you to see that life’s fucking worth living for, I need you to see it! Even this life is worth living for! I love you. We all do! I want you to be able to see our kids grow up, I want you to find joy, I fucking want to see you happy. I want you to come back to me!”

She cries some more and he kisses her. Their faces, their lips, it’s all wet.

“This depression is a bitch but I won’t give up, I refuse to give up,” Dean brushes his knuckles along her cheek as he lays his forehead back on hers, “I want you to come back to us, and I’m gonna be here waiting for the day you’re ready to come back. I’m not gonna fucking give you up. I fought too hard to be where we are now, I’m not letting a goddamn wheelchair stand in the way of what we can be. And you shouldn’t either.”

“Dean,”

“Shh, baby,” He hushes her, kisses her again, “Let's get you to bed.”

...ONE YEAR LATER…

Dean’s having one of his campfire nights with the kids, and they’re grilling marshmallows by the fire.

It’s a clear night, they’re lucky with the weather this year. Summer wasn’t too hot and it seems like this Winter’s going to be a mild one. It helps with the wheelchair when there’s not too much ice and snow around whenever they need to go somewhere.

Linda’s still living here but Y/N’s doing better so he thinks that Linda can go home if she wants to but he also wouldn’t mind if she’d stay. He’s warmed up to the woman, and he can see that she’s warming up to him as well. Maybe she changed her mind about him, she must have. She even starts to cook now too, with the false pretense that she doesn’t really like the food Dean’s cooking. Her plate’s always empty, so he guesses that it’s Linda’s way to tell him that she’s ready to be involved more.

Dean never told her to, though. He even said that she can go back whenever she likes but she has stayed and he thinks with Linda being here, Y/N has more reason to fight either. Maybe it’s also because Linda’s a cold hearted bitch when it comes to sorry excuses. She pep talks and drills Y/N until Y/N’s exhausted. Linda’s worse than a physical therapist, which they stopped calling in after the breakdown they both had. Linda’s more reliable, Linda knows Y/N’s limits. She also doesn’t get paid to crawl into someone ass and pretend that everything’s looking fine and Y/N made progress when the progress is zero and everything’s, in fact, not fucking fine.

He’s sitting around the campfire, Neo’s on his lap, and Dean has one arm secured around the toddler. He’s afraid that Neo will fall into the fire if he isn’t holding him.

When Dean looks away from the fire, he sees Linda wheeling Y/N into the backyard. They must have been going around the house because Linda couldn’t carry Y/N and the wheelchair down to the yard from their terrace.

Inside of their house it’s a whole different story. They have two wheelchairs on both levels, so it’s easy if they can just carry her up and down and sit her right back into a ready wheelchair. Maybe Dean needs another one especially made for the terrain of their garden.

Y/N’s smiling and so does Linda. Dean wonders what they’re up to.

Seeing her smile makes his heart leap and he smiles back.

Her smile’s a rare sight, it’s absolutely rare seeing the genuine smile on her face. It makes him realize how much he misses it. How much he’s missing her. She’s slowly coming back and they’re nowhere near where they want to be, or rather where he wants them to be, but they’re slowly but surely taking baby steps into the right direction.

She keeps on fighting and so does he.

Y/N’s around more either. Sometimes she would come down to sit around the couch with the kids. She’d read them stories, and Dean would listen too. And in those moments, it feels like they have gotten some normality back. In those moments, he can feel that she’s slowly accepting that her legs might never work again, accepting that she might be bound to a wheelchair to the end of her days.

Dean’s also happy that she doesn’t doubt herself anymore, and by proxy, doesn’t doubt him. She can finally accept and wrap her head around the fact that he’s here to stay. Wrapping her mind around the fact that he’s not backing out just because something becomes uncomfortable. Just because something doesn’t fit the norm. He’s too old and too tired to give up on all that they’ve built up. He couldn’t leave this life, mainly also because all other lives don't seem worth living.

He’s got his children, he has her. There’s really nothing else for him to wish for.

“Mommy!” Ella abandons her stick with a half burned marshmallow and skips towards Y/N and Linda. Neo’s getting restless in Dean’s grip. He watches as Ella runs to her mom and sits on Y/N’s lap, letting Linda push both of them forward.

Linda comes to a halt about three yards short of him and Ella gets out. Dean watches with raised eyebrows as Y/N grabs one leg after another, sets it on the cold solid ground.

And then, Dean can’t believe his own eyes when Y/N pushes herself up from the chair.

Linda comes around, gives Y/N a hand to help steady her while Ella holds on to her mommy’s other hand.

Dean can’t stop the tears even if he would try. He brushes at his eyes to be able to see better.

“Daddy why are you crying?” Neo tilts his head around because of course he couldn’t hide that from the kids. Ella’s by Dean’s side now too, as she weaves her arms around Dean’s neck to kiss at his cheek.

“Daddy, mommy can walk!” Ella shouts out, her tiny voice’s full of excitement.

“I can see that, yeah,” Dean chokes out but he’s smiling, and he still watches her, watches how her face frowns in concentration.

“Why don’t cry,” Neo says again and Dean doesn’t really want to? He just really has to.

“Why’s daddy crying?” Ella asks Neo, as if her brother knows the answer.

“Daddy’s just really happy,” Dean whispers, has to compose himself as not to break down in front of his kids, and then he stands up and lets Neo walk around, the little boy speeds to his mommy and Dean follows.

When he’s close enough, he takes over from Linda and Linda takes the kids, walks with them back to the campfire as Dean steadies Y/N around her waist with one arm. His other arm trails along her cheeks. It has been more than a year since they saw each other eye to eye like this, with her being able to hold herself up on her own two feet.

She’s sweating and her cheeks are flushed. It probably needed more strengths than Dean could ever imagine.

He kisses her, holds her a little tighter, “You can walk,”

“I can,” She breathes, “I mean, I won’t run a marathon tomorrow but I’m getting there.”

Dean has to chuckle, “You’re doing much better, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Y/N answers, “I can’t believe how patient you were.”

“It was worth it,” Dean whispers, kissing her again, “Come on, let’s get you back into the chair before you collapse.” She lets him scoop her up and place her back into the chair. Dean takes his time to place her legs right, he massages the muscle a little, too. “You feel that again?”

“I do, it’s strange.”

Dean smirks, “Can’t believe you were hiding that from me.”

“Wanted to surprise you.” She smiles and it’s truly the most beautiful thing he’s seen in a long time. “Thanks for waiting for me to come around.”

“I would have waited a lifetime if that’s what you would have needed,” He whispers and gets up, places a last lingering kiss on her forehead before he gets behind the chair and wheels her to the campfire.

And yes, Dean’s happy.

Happy that after all, they can start to be a family again. Because this is it for him. This is what he always fucking wanted. This and nothing else.

..The End

#sky full of stars #dean winchester #dean winchester fic #dean winchester fan fic #dean winchester fan fiction #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x you

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freddiesaysalright · 5 years

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Peace Like A River Part 4

A Gwilym Lee x Reader Story

Summary: Reader is a stand up comic with a pretty dark past. She has a three new lights in her life: her daughter, Violet; her anonymous correspondent, Dear Friend; and Gwilym Lee.

Word Count: 3.2K

Tag List: @psychosupernatural, @someone-get-a-medic, @bensrhapsody, @deakyclicks, @crazylittlethingcalledobsession, @minigranger, @simmisblog, @assembledherethevolunteers, @lookuptotheskiesandsee, @readinghorn, @riddikuluslypotter, @doingalrightt, @misslolasworld, @lemurian-starship, @ravenedges-lies, @painkiller80, @imgonnabeyourslave If you’d like to be added let me know!

A/N: Alright, the big reveal! I hope you guys enjoy it! Don’t worry, there’s still some shit to go down before this story is over!

Part I Part II Part III

Part 4 here we go!!!

“You’re going to meet him right?” Stacy questioned.

You trembled at the thought. This man, Dear Friend, was probably the love of your life. To meet him would mean to take actual steps toward being happy. That terrified you. The last time you put that much trust in someone, you got burned. Sometimes quite literally. Logically, you knew that Dear Friend wasn’t like that. He couldn’t be. But your body remembered all too well. So did your heart.

“I - I want to,” you managed to say. “I just don’t know if I can.”

“But, Y/N, what if it’s your only chance?” she pressed. “He lives in the UK. Who knows when you’ll have another opportunity to meet without a hefty expense for one or both of you?”

“You’re right,” you admitted. “But the truth is, I’m a coward.”

Stacy sighed and looked at you in disbelief.

“Are you serious?” she questioned. “You’re one of the bravest people I know. You left your husband and kept him away from you. You’re raising your daughter all on your own. And you took a shot at a career in comedy, which is highly competitive, especially for women. And look how it turned out for you!”

“This is different,” you said.

“How?” she demanded.

“It just is,” you insisted. “It involves love, it involves another person.”

“Do you want to hurt him?” she asked.

“No, of course not,” you said.

“Then go,” she replied. “If you don’t, he’ll be crushed.”

You looked at the letter again, hesitant.

“Take a chance, Y/N,” she pressed. “You deserve to be happy.”

You opened your mouth to respond, but the bathroom door beside you opened and Violet poked her head out.

“Mommy, I’m ready for my bath now,” she said.

“Right, sorry, baby,” you returned, shaking your head. “I’ll be there in one second.”

“Okie dokie,” she replied, and closed the door again.

You turned back to Stacy and handed her the letter. “Put this on my desk. I’ll answer it once Violet’s in bed.”

She sighed. “Alright, then.”

You didn’t answer and went into the bathroom to help Violet in her bath. The water was full and warm and you’d added bubbles like she liked. You lifted her up and placed her in the water as she giggled. You reached for her shampoo and began lathering it in her curls. She was talking to you, but your mind was on Dear Friend. Were you really ready to take that step?

“Mommy,” your daughter said seriously, calling you back to her. “Are you hurting somewhere?”

“No, honey,” you replied, brow furrowing. “Why?”

“You seem sad,” she said simply.

You brushed her cheek with your thumb. “You are very sweet to worry about me, but you don’t need to. I’m okay.”

“Do you miss Mister Gwilym?”

You blinked with surprise, but recovered quickly, and smiled.

“A little,” you said. “You like Mister Gwilym, Vi?”

She answered with an exaggerated nod. “I do. He’s nice, and when he’s here, you smile a lot.”

“He is a good man,” you agreed.

Without warning, she slammed her toy boat into the water with a massive splash. Bubbles and water freckled your face before you could draw back. You sputtered to get the suds out of your mouth and gaped amusedly at your daughter. She giggled mischievously.

“You rotten girl!” you teased and tickled her sides.

She shrieked with laughter and splashed around some more as you tickled her. You stopped and she caught her breath. You pinched her cheek gently.

“Mommy, can I have a mohawk?” she requested.

“Sure thing, sweetie,” you returned and used the suds and water to style her hair.

“I love you,” she said suddenly. “I want you to be happy and smile all the time.”

Your heart melted. You were surprised there wasn’t a puddle on your chest.

“I love you too,” you told her. “More than anything in the world. You’re my biggest reason to smile.”

She beamed at that. “But you should have other stuff too! I don’t know what Miss Stacy said you need to do, but you should do it if it makes you smile!”

It really was that simple. You couldn’t let fear hold you back. To get what you wanted, you needed to be as open hearted and trusting as your three-year-old girl. You kissed her wet forehead.

“You’re right, sweetie,” you said. “I will.”

“Good!” she chirped. “Is my mohawk ready?”

“Yeah, check it out,” you said, grabbing the hand mirror from the counter.

She made an angry face in the mirror before breaking into fresh bits of laughter.

“I look funny,” she said, giggling.

You hummed in agreement. “Come on, silly girl. Time to dry off.”

You wrapped a towel around her and carried her out to the room to get her clothes. She picked out her favorite pajamas and you helped her get them on. Then you had her brush her teeth while you combed her hair. Then you got in bed and she snuggled close so you could read her a story. As you read, you thought how crazy it was that she had imparted such simple wisdom on you.

When she was asleep, you went to your desk to answer Dear Friend. Your pen shook in your hand as you wrote.

Dear Friend. It is time we meet. Perhaps by fate, I’m going to be in Atlanta for work that week. I know a place there that has great coffee…

You organized a date, time, and place. It made you feel in control which eased your nerves. You also decided how you were going to know it was Dear Friend. You would both carry a copy of Pride and Prejudice with a pink carnation in it. You were going to meet Dear Friend. See his face. Hold his hand. Maybe even kiss him. With all the worry that clouded your heart, excitement began to peek through.

I await our meeting eagerly. I’m trembling now just thinking of seeing you. Touching you. Loving you truly. Until then, your Dear Friend.

You put the pen down and read it over again, making sure you had every detail right. This was the chance of a lifetime and you could not afford to mess anything up.

From Chicago, you went to DC, where you had two shows. From DC, you headed to Charlotte for one night and then from Charlotte you went to Atlanta. That city felt like the big leap. Every step you took, every mile traveled brought you closer to Dear Friend. On your night in Charlotte, you received a letter from him confirming that he would be where you suggested at the time you suggested. You could feel his excitement through the ink.

I can’t believe I’ll be able to hold you in my arms at last, he wrote. I desperately want to feel you close to me. To come together as our hearts already have. I love you. I look forward to seeing your lovely face. Yours, Dear Friend.

It would have been touching if it didn’t make you so nervous. And for the first time, you did not need to write a reply. That made you a bit sad. Was this your last letter from Dear Friend? It was the end of an era for you. But, who would need a letter when you had him next to you?

Violet also complicated things. You would have to tell him about her, and right away. You were fairly certain he would have no objections to your child. He knew you were married before, after all. But it was still a nerve wracking thing to go over in your head. What if it did change how he felt about you? It would be so easy for him to walk away at this point.

As you touched down in Atlanta, your stomach did a flip, and not just because of the shaky landing. This was really it. The place you would meet Dear Friend, and probably change your life forever. One way or the other.

You were meeting him after your second show in Atlanta. The whole evening, you felt like you were hardly present on stage. You heard the audience laughing, but you couldn’t remember by the end of it how it went or if you had even done a good job. You hated that you had probably let some people down, but you had this massive event hanging before you like a storm on the horizon. It was unavoidable.

After the show, Stacy was waiting for you. Violet was already in the stroller, asleep. The cafe was close to the venue, so you were just going to walk there. The weather was nice since it was fall, and you didn’t mind the exercise. It would help you to clear your head.

“Stacy, I can’t do this,” you said when you were about halfway there. “I’m gonna throw up.”

Really, you felt like your stomach was jumping around inside you. Any second now, you were sure you would lose your dinner right there on the sidewalk.

“Y/N, listen to me,” she said, taking your hand and making you look at her. “You’re going to be fine. This man, Dear Friend, has never disappointed you. You have something real. It’s worth exploring. It’s worth the risk.”

You remembered telling Gwilym back in Boston about risk taking. You realized now that was much easier said than done.

She held your hand all the way to the cafe. A large window was in the front, where you could see the customers, but you didn’t look. You turned your back and covered your eyes.

“He’s the one with Pride and Prejudice with a carnation in it,” you said. “I can’t look, Stace, you have to do it for me.”

Stacy scanned the patrons and then you heard her gasp. “There he is!”

Your mind and heart were racing. He was so close now. You could feel him. Somewhere, just feet away from you, he sat. Was he sipping a coffee? Was he just looking around waiting for you? Was he everything you’d ever imagined him to be? You thought you might explode from all the questions and emotions coursing through you.

“What’s he like?!” you squeaked out.

“Well, you find Gwilym attractive, right?” she wondered, and you heard concern in her voice.

“Sure, why?” you returned, narrowing your eyes at the street in confusion.

“Because…” she trailed off.

“Does he look like Gwilym?” you pressed.

“You could say that,” she answered vaguely.

“Stacy, just tell me!” you cried.

“Y/N...it is Gwilym.”

“What?!” you gasped, whipping around.

You gazed through the window and saw him. Your friend Gwilym Lee, alone at a table, a copy of Pride and Prejudice beside him, with the carnation. Worlds collided and for a moment, you were ready to leap with joy. Of course Gwilym was Dear Friend. It all made sense now! But, as quickly as happiness came, it departed. A voice that sounded like Henry’s ran through your mind and crawled over your skin. Unworthy, it hissed to you.

You recalled all the ways Gwilym had described the girl he was in love with. Smart, well-educated, lovely, beautiful. You couldn’t measure up to the version of yourself you had presented to him in those letters. All you really were was a disappointment. You were sure of it.

Stacy eyed you, a smile threatening to part her lips.

“This is great!” she said. “Right?”

Her happiness faltered when she saw it leave your face.

“What is it?”

“I’m not the girl he’s in love with,” you said.

“What the fuck?” she returned. “You’re Dear Friend, of course you are.”

You shook your head. “No. I’m not. I was who I want to be in those letters. Not who I am. I don’t…” you took a deep breath. A lump the size of a chicken egg had formed in your throat. “I don’t deserve him.”

“Y/N…”

“Take Violet back to the hotel,” you said.

“Are you going in?” she asked.

“Yeah, but...I can’t tell him,” you said. “It would only upset him.”

“I think he’ll be more upset to think he got stood up,” she said.

“I’ll work it out, just please, take Violet and go.”

With a sigh, she obeyed. You watched her disappear around the corner. You stuffed the book into your purse, and flower as well, ensuring they were deep inside and couldn’t be seen, even from a distance. You blinked back your tears quickly and heaved a sigh. It was time.

You walked in and strolled up to the counter casually, as if you were just popping in after your show with no real sense of purpose. You looked at your phone as you waited for the barista to acknowledge you.

“Y/N?” Gwilym’s voice came from the table.

“Oh, hey Gwil!” you said brightly. “I didn’t know you were in Atlanta.”

“I didn’t know you were,” he returned.

“When I get my drink, can I join you?”

He glanced at the book, then at his watch. A frown just barely crossed his mouth and then he smiled at you.

“Sure,” he said. “That’s fine.”

You ordered and when you had your cup, you sat across from him at the little table.

“Are you meeting someone?” you asked casually.

“How’d you guess?” he replied.

“Not exactly the most subtle check of your watch there, dude,” you teased.

He chuckled. “I suppose not. But yes, I am waiting for someone.”

“Your girlfriend?” you wondered, taking a sip.

He hesitated. “I suppose.”

“What’s up with the book?”

He sighed. “It’s all a bit silly, really. You see, the woman I told you about...I’ve never actually met her. We’ve been writing letters for a year or so now and we were supposed to finally meet tonight. I don’t even know her name. We call each other Dear Friend. Is that completely insane?”

It was like he’d taken a nail gun to the glass of your heart. It cracked and then when Dear Friend came from his mouth, completely shattered.

You looked at your hands around the coffee mug. “No, not completely.”

“I’m glad someone thinks so,” he said. “The guys have all been giving me hell for it.”

“They’re just jealous,” you said with a shrug.

“That’s generous of you to say, but I know that it’s sort of stupid for me to hope on a thing like this,” he said. “Unfortunately, she’s a bit late.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you said. You meant this. He was about to get hurt and it was entirely your fault.

“I’ll hold out hope for a little while longer,” he assured you. “What about you and your man? Going well still?”

You swallowed and shook your head. “No. It didn’t work out.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said gently, and reached over to take your hand.

You looked into his beautiful blue eyes and almost confessed. But you held back as that voice returned and reminded you that you were undeserving of his kindness.

“Really, I hate that for you,” he continued as he squeezed his fingers around yours.��

“Thanks,” you said, looking away again.

Your eyes welled up unexpectedly as emotion overwhelmed you again. This was not how this was supposed to go. But - as you considered it - you were so nervous because you knew that no matter who Dear Friend was, you were never going to feel worthy of him. Now that you knew it was Gwilym, a person you loved and respected outside of the letters as well, it only made that feeling all the more intense.

“Y/N?” he questioned. “Are you alright?”

You sniffled. “I am so sorry, Gwilym.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” he said soothingly, stroking the back of your hand with his thumb. “You don’t need to cry for me. If she hasn’t shown up, I’m sure it’s for a very good reason.”

It made you let out a sob because that woman didn’t exist. Instead, she was you.

“This can’t all be about me,” he said. “Is it your relationship as well?”

You nodded. “Yeah, sorry I’m so emotional. I just hate this.”

Your heart was breaking inside your chest. It was all over now. No more Dear Friend.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” he offered.

You shook your head and wiped your eyes. “No, you don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t like the idea of you walking alone,” he went on.

“Really, Gwil, I don’t need it,” you assured him. “I need the fresh air anyway. I love to walk. It helps me think.”

“Well, don’t overthink,” he said. “That’s where you’ll get into trouble.”

You tried to smile but couldn’t. You couldn’t believe this was it. The end of you and Dear Friend. And most likely the end of you and Gwilym as well. How could it ever be the same when you were in love with him?

It should have been obvious to you. That Tolstoy quote should have been a dead giveaway. When you thought about Gwilym and Dear Friend, it made sense that it was the same man. Gwilym was no one other than himself. You on the other hand, had a mask for every occasion. For the stage, for the letters, even for Violet. You took on the roles you felt each situation demanded of you. And in doing so, no one really knew who you were. You thought Dear Friend did, but realizing he knew you in another form made that line between your identities all the more clear to you. And he deserved someone whole.

“I’ll try not to,” you said.

You had to pull your hand away from his because it felt like he was burning into your skin. His pure intentions and goodness could sear a hole right through your layers. Even you weren’t sure what he would find if he made it through all of them.

“Well, I suppose it would look bad if she showed up and found me with someone else,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

You forced a chuckle. “Yeah. I’ll head out.”

“I hope you feel better, Y/N.”

“I hope you find what you’re looking for,” you returned.

His brow furrowed at that, but you stood up, not bothering to explain yourself. It was true. You hoped there really was a woman out there like the Dear Friend you had created for yourself. That she was his perfect match and could give him the life he deserved. That she could match his wit and depth and gentleness of spirit.

You left him there in the cafe, and did not look back. You felt like you had just torn your own heart out. In a way, you had. Part of you wished for rain. A real downpour to hide the tears that streaked your face as you sobbed all the way back to your hotel room.

When you came in, Stacy was waiting up for you. You told her everything. Through it all, you were wracked with sobs and shivering. You could tell she was confused at seeing this side of you. You had no jokes to downplay what you were feeling. All you could do was wallow in this grief. She held you in your bed, stroked your hair, and whispered words of comfort to you until you cried yourself to sleep in her arms. As your heavy lids closed, you couldn’t help but wish it was Gwilym’s familiar embrace around you. Dear Friend’s arms.

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blankdblank · 5 years

Text

Back Again Pt 7

All –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars

x Thorin – @evyiione, @deepestfirefun, @queenoferebor

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 –

…

“So, how is it dear Cousin?” Dwalin asked grinning at you widely.

Weakly you giggled replying, “Big week.”

“Yes it is. Custody hearing, winning custody, engagement, first stop in at work, wedding, plans for having all the little ones for the summer, on top of Estel’s first sleepover, big steps.”

You giggled again, “Plus, got a call from my father,”

His brow inched up, “What did he have to say?”

“He congratulated me. Hoped I have better luck than he does.” You added with a weak giggle, “He said he’s got an appointment for a vasectomy.”

“Really?”

You nodded, “He made sure to follow tradition and get my approval first,” At taking in his puzzled expression you added, “It is supposed to be a, an assurance that his line will continue granting him a rest from conceiving.”

“Meaning-,”

“Meaning it was a question of if I will be having children. Logically it would be any of us, but me especially, as I’m the only one of age.”

“How is that on you, pressure wise?” he asked lowly in a concerned tone.

Your head shook, “Not any more than usual. There’s no deadline, no hopes to play grandpa. For all his great, dreams of a daughter I have fulfilled them splendidly. Quiet and obedient tending to my younger siblings as told, easing his struggles on that aspect.”

Exhaling lowly he stated, “That, is, terrible, but very common for Men I hear.” A grin from you eased him onwards, “I hear the drop in at work went well. The new author was thrilled to see you.”

“Ya, Bard. Actually he saw me, out in the hospital when I was having my surgery.”

“That’s why he told Dis to put you on it?”

You nodded, “He was there to visit a friend of his late Wife’s. Saw me sketching a girl from down the hall as a nurse checked on me, I had a few of my sketches up and he knew I would get it. Wants me to keep up to illustrate the series.”

“That’s great. Looking forward to your first full day? Estel seemed excited, talked about having a bag for his art supplies too for his area.”

You nodded, “Yes, he’s excited.” His brow twitched up again as he wet his lips and you curled your legs in front of you, “I’m just a bit nervous, I don’t know how we will do on our first day. How the day will go, what to do, I seem to breeze through things, and how to keep Estel distracted by me through it.” You shrugged, “Only one way to find out though.”

Dwalin chuckled, “Exactly. I am certain you will handle it marvelously. Besides, I hear with you signed on they’ve been getting countless calls confirming your employment. You have an untouchable reputation.”

You giggled softly, “Well, I usually tend to get what they need and want better than they can verbalize.”

Spreading his grin, “So, Father, summer visitation, work, how are you feeling?”

“Physically I’m better. Bruising is nearly all gone. Thorin helped me with the creams for the last of the swelling.”

Dwalin nodded, “Yes, he mentioned it was troublesome to apply.”

You nodded, “Not the most comfortable thing to do. Sad to say I all but passed out the first time I did it.” Parting his lips for a moment, “But it got better, kept it to once a week, I think just another week and I shouldn’t need it, though I should probably leave that to Oin and Gloin, Dis already set me up with an appointment few days back.”

Dwalin chuckled again, “They are anxious to see themselves how you are healing. Full round of scans and blood work and all that.”

“Ooh. So much fun and Estel is excited to go with the boys to the movies in my appointment tomorrow.”

Making him chuckle lowly, “So, four months until the final verdict, though we can at least get a first check up on it.” You nodded and he asked, “How are you doing on the change in appearance, tattoo and all I mean?”

Your head tilted to the side, “The uncovered scars are a bit unsettling.”

“Understandable.”

“Though mainly for, I left them uncovered, in case I have to, do it again.” At the tears looming in your eyes and dropping tone he settled his hands on your curled legs, “Though, I am trying to be positive. Have to keep going, hope for the best. Estel needs me, all the kids do.”

“We’re all here for you. Thorin especially. He is going slowly? Not pushing you too fast? I know most women, the house, the ring and ceremony. On top of your health, must be a change to say the least.”

“Thorin is spectacular. Great listener, very caring about everything. Very excited about everything. Built in family on my side too this time.”

“That’s the spirit. And now we just have to help your poor baby sisters on their flirting.”

Making you cover your face giggling, “I can’t help it, it’s genetic. Makes me wonder how father ever earned a date let alone so many wives.” Making him chuckle again as your hands dropped, “Even with the boys, all so adorable and blush inducing.”

“True. Dis can help. Bella and Gorgo too. They can learn that, wiggle into their confidences, you’ve set a great foothold already, instilling in them the willingness to stand up alone and together, great morals, impressive self image. Not that they need it being every bit as drop dead bewitching as you are, even more so with your flirting fails. You have done spectacularly. You do know that, don’t you?”

You nodded and wiped your cheek with a soft sniffle at the single tear breaking free, “I wanted them to have something close to what I had. My Mom, was unbreakable. Even after she was gone, I used to imagine she just turned to clouds to follow me around when I needed her. I wanted them to know someone was there for them, nothing more, just them. That there was one person there loving them, ready to face the world to tear their path clear. And it hurt, sending them away again, and not telling them. But they’re closer now, and so ready to spend summer together when it rolls around.”

“That’s good. Now we just have to decorate your office and their rooms for them.”

“Yes, they are thrilled about that one. Fuzzy blankets and bean bag chairs, so many pillows.”

Again your legs curled tighter and his eyes lowered, “Your legs hurt?”

Sighing you wobbled your knees, “Just feeling restless. Keep fighting against working out. There’s a gym here. I used to do squats and lunges in commercial breaks and I slipped and did a set after Thorin left for work.”

Dwalin chuckled, “I am certain a small amount for your legs will not do harm. In fact, Gloin commented as long as your internal scarring is healed you could slip back into it. Carefully.”

Looking him over you asked, “How often do you handle this normally? Mastectomies?”

Inhaling steadily he said, “I have handled this before, though it’s not as common as my other patients. A couple every few years, though we tend to keep up with them for a few years after. Mostly with family as well, if the girls or your brothers want to talk about it, we did give them our numbers and emails to do so. Your dad does know?”

Wetting your lips you shrugged and said, “If the girls haven’t told him in their calls and emails monthly then no. But soon enough I’ll know either way to tell him if he asks.”

An hour seemed to breeze by and with all you covered more and more Dwalin had more of a clearer picture of all you were taking in and how you were leveling through it all in stride. It was a lot and near an unbearable level of stress for anyone else to handle, but between your stubbornness and the family gathering around you there were plenty of ears to borrow and shoulders to lean on. Back at work again Dwalin passed on a picture Estel sent with him Thorin proudly hung up on his wall listening to the dinner plans the whole clan had set up at their place tonight.

Six came soon enough and Estel grinned wider in his place by the door ready with picture in hand hearing the car park and then the boot steps that followed until the door opened. His arms shot up and Thorin’s smile at returning home again to his new family doubled seeing his warm welcome. Crouching down he accepted the picture and hugged the boy tightly returning his welcoming hug to lift him asking, “What have you been up to, hmm?” Carrying him inside as he bumped the door shut behind him listening to the full recap. Straight through to the living room he walked, setting down his bag to smirk at you watching as you laid on the end of the lounge at the end of the couch with legs extended to tap the ground then rise up to hip level.

Turning your head you curled your legs and sat up pretending you hadn’t been exercising making him chuckle as you asked, “Busy day?”

He nodded, “Sort of. Had the privilege to hang a marvelous piece of art in my office today.”

Making Estel gasp and ask, “Really?”

Thorin nodded and rumbled back as he sat down beside you, “Really. Your picture, right on my wall, best spot, everyone loved it.”

Kissing his forehead he watched as Estel shifted his legs and slid off his lap saying, “I have more!”

A lean in later and his lips met yours while his hand cupped your cheek then purred, “I saw that.”

Rolling your head back you groaned, “Two sets of twins, then two single kids, I had hours of work and now,” you groaned again at his next chuckle, “I can’t just sit still, if my brain isn’t rushing my body has to.”

He chuckled again, “All lower body?” You nodded and he chuckled back as Estel rushed back with a full sketchbook he settled into Thorin’s lap, “I am certain Gloin won’t object.” His grin widening lifting Estel back onto his lap to flip through the choices he had, each one more impressive than the last as the story he was writing with them was shared stirring proud tears into the Dwarf’s eyes.

The story again was shared at dinner where you had confirmed you had a copied version of it printed and waiting for the images to be added to a scrapbook to hold it in when complete. Tables were packed with the meals the entire family brought out for you three to sample to your hearts desire until you finally headed home for the night. A simple night of snuggling after eating far too much to keep you conscious for long you were changed and tangled in bed until daybreak when appointments pulled you from bed, but not before the young brothers Fili and Kili hopped on your bed sharing they had made your breakfast. Overly eager for their own time with their newest cousin they helped to ready him and then dashed out the door with him after assuring you had traded pecks on his cheeks.

The door closed and with a few minutes left until you had to split up Thorin’s arms circled you lifting you in a warm kiss then hummed against your lips, “I will try to get there as soon as I can.”

“No rush, I know you have important patients to see to.”

His eyes narrowed playfully at you, “I am off at lunch, Gloin said it would cut close, but I should be there by the end of your last test to hear the results. And then I can bring you back here and feed you.” Planting his lips on yours again he lowered you and held your hand on your way out until you had to break for your own cars after another stolen kiss.

…

Cold and painful, your memories of the last hospital you were in. However this pastel painted waiting room seemed a bit warmer in Thorin’s borrowed cardigan you pulled around you in your peering up at the tv show playing lowly on the wall across from you.

“Pear?” At your last name you shot up with a faint grin at the woman feeling the eyes of the other patients around you staring at you wondering what had brought you here.

Weight taken and into the exam room you went, sitting so blood pressure and pulse could be taken along with a blood and urine sample. A plain ridiculously large gown was handed over and as expected you when alone stripped to your panties and socks leaving the rest folded on the chair along the wall. Your grin flashed back at the door when it opened revealing Oin with a grin of his own. Chuckling lowly he approached saying, “Jaqi, I see we still have yet to find any of our smaller sized gowns, I apologize.”

You giggled ad shook your head, “I’m used to it.”

Inhaling sharply he stated, “I will do the basic exam and then Gloin will head your scans and we will conference after.”

You nodded, mumbling, “Fun.”

Forcing out a chuckle again he raised his hands after adding a set of gloves to feel around your neck, wetting your lips you stared ahead as the back of your gown was opened and he felt for any abnormalities before you shrugged out of your gown and laid back resting your arms up over your head. Inch by inch he ensured a thorough inspection, focusing especially on your surgical scars asking, “Have you been exercising at all?”

“A few leg reps and some lower abdominals.”

At your sheepish glance up at him he chuckled saying, “No need for that expression. I am glad you have picked up some again, restlessness tends to worsen moods in post surgical patients. No upper body just yet, nice and simple body weight only for now. Even some time on Thorin’s treadmill or reclined bike, no more than half an hour mind for the workout, any problems with your cycles?” he asked inching his fingers lower to your pelvis, “No history of ovarian cysts or anything like that?”

“No, cycles are regular, had to get off my birth control for all this. Not much of a change off it.”

“No abnormalities by my inspection.” His hand stretched out to help you up and to ease your gown back on after stealing another glimpse at your tattoo, “I will tell Gloin you are ready for the first scan.” Stepping back he made for the door only to chuckle seeing Gloin waiting outside with a grin, “Ah, and here he is.”

You hopped down and Gloin’s grin spread as you joined him for the walk to the other end of the floor for your full body xray that would be followed by a full color full body scan to assure nothing was missed.

Awkwardly a series of xrays were taken and another short walk after brought you into a chilly room with a large machine inside. Oin was back with you helping Gloin to get you on the table, coated with a blanket with a pair of headphones around your ears inside the head rest. Through them your favorite Dwarf instrumental band was playing, raising the struggle not to move but helping to calm you through the twenty minute scan in the clicking and banging machine.

Outside the machine you looked over the eased grins on their faces out of habit making you wonder just what they had seen on the screens. Again you were taken back to your private room where you were told you could redress. Jeans, shirts again were wrapped around you and you sat on the end of your bed with your foot propped up tying your sneaker. Lowering your foot at the knock on your door you spotted the door cracking open, “Love?”

“Hey Thorin.” With a grin he slipped inside closing the door behind him, crossing the room to take your foot you had eased your second sneaker onto. Resting it against his thigh he tightened the laces and tied them, gently lowering it after and moved closer to plant his lips against yours.

“Any word yet?”

You shook your head, “No, just got back from the last of it.”

He nodded looking you over, “Cold?”

“The cardigan is still a bit warm, it’s helping.”

Chuckling lowly he turned to lean against the table draping his arms around you planting his lips on your forehead and he purred, “Can’t have you being cold, Karuke.”

Around you he melted hoping to warm you with his own usual body heat and for the next few minutes he shared what he could of his day until the fated click of the door opening again for the father and son to enter again.

Oin started as they grinned at you both, “Bloodwork and urine samples are leaps and bounds over your last tests before the surgery. Physical exam is ahead of standard healing markers for just over a month out.”

Gloin, “The xrays were clear, though I would like to, at a later date of course, discuss ways to manage that fracture in your foot if it is hurting you any.”

Oin again shared, “As for the full body scans they all came back clean. Remaining breast tissue and glands are all clear, lymph nodes are normal. Ovaries and uterus are clear of any cysts and abnormalities. We will need to check again at the four month marker, but I would say you’re in the clear.” Stirring a teary grin onto your face as Thorin’s eyes welled with tears over his spreading smile as his head tapped against yours for a few moments to collect himself.

Gloin eyed you then asked, “I do have to ask, it is an awkward place to fracture your foot, how did you do that?”

Weakly you chuckled and sniffles wiping your cheeks, “It, um, first time was a mishap with the stroller for the girls and some stairs after shopping. Then later, there was an unfortunate pogo stick accident with Tippy.” Their brows rose and you sighed, “She got a pogo stick as a present and there was a garden on the back and she was popping around, but the moss grew up over the end of the walkway and the end slipped. I lunged, caught her and my foot slid end ended up sort of bending awkwardly into the moss. Sort of wobbled it off, each time, waited till the nanny could come in and I went to the hospital, ended up in a boot both times and it just was hard to stay off it with the stairs so it never really healed properly.”

Glowing nodded, “I believe a short while out we should see to that. I would hate for you to have another stumble and break it worse.”

You nodded, “Well it would have to be before the summer break, to be safe then.”

Oin chuckled saying, perhaps we could celebrate your four month check up with a boot then.” Making you giggle to yourself. “So, take the rest of your set month off, to settle into things and ease your way back into your exercise routines. I would say some easy upper body work would be safe, all body weight mind you, just for now. End of the month you can start low on the weights again.”

“Thank you.” They both chuckled and when you eased down accepted you sniffle filled hugs and then showed you out after setting a date at the end of the month for another check up.”

Out at your cars again a giggling squeak left you at Thorin’s tight hug lifting you off the ground, mumbling into your shoulder, “Oh this is wonderful news.” Your head pulled back and his grin melted against your lips, pressing your forehead to his he purred, “I love you.”

Giggling back you replied, “I love you, my giant teddy bear.” Making him chuckle and steal another kiss, “Now, don’t you have to head back?”

He nodded, “Yes. And you have to head home, where Amad will be waiting with tea.” Making you giggle again, “They are just itching to know.”

“Go save the world Teddy Bear.” Making him chuckle again, “I will see you at five.”

His eyes remained fixed on you as long as they could until he had to turn away heading back to work. A massive grin settled onto his face and mentally he’d settled to bursting in to share the good news to his waiting cousins.

The closer he got Thorin’s grin spread as his fears had diminished greatly seeing the ease in you at the good news. Endlessly his mind rattled on as for how to share the news with his cousins. Just parking outside he spotted their faces in one of the windows making him chuckle in his climb out of the car to lock it and head for the side entrance they used. Eagerly Bofur opened it and Thorin passed by as Dwalin said, “You’re smiling, good sign. Right?”

Thorin grinned turning to them, “Scans, bloodwork and xrays are clear along with the physical exam. She has been cleared to ease back into exercise between here and the end of her month off.” His hand rose to pause their hugs as his grin spread, “And especially it appeared her ovaries and uterus are completely healthy and clear. We still have to check in after another four months but they think she’s in the clear.”

He looked over the group and chuckled at their frozen stances, “Now we can hug.”

They all lunged forward wrapping their arms around him tightly. When they pulled back Dwalin asked, “Should I take my lunch over? Just to check in to help her ease into it?”

Thorin chuckled shaking his head, “Amad said she was going to go over with Frerin for the afternoon to help with that until Estel comes home. She said she’s going to call her siblings too after their classes are through.”

Straight home you went and into the kitchen where you heard a soft chatter and found Frerin and Diaa both setting the table for the light tea and snacks they put out. Eager grins spread across their faces and they listened at you shared the news, tearing up the whole time. Frerin neared you when you finished crouching down to lift you into a tight hug to melt around you at the first sniffle at your burying your head in the crook of his neck while Diaa rubbed your back, “I got you Sis.”

For a few minutes you stayed there until he released you when you drew back and then he set you down kissing the top of your head and Diaa claimed a hug of her own along with a kiss on your cheek saying, “Come have some tea, and we can talk it all out.”

You nodded and sat between them as they delved into it all easing your doubts and worries about the next few months at least but a phone call tore you from all that. With a brow raised you lifted your phone to your ear, “You’re supposed to be in class.”

Through the line the eldest of the twin girls said, “I know, but I just had to know how it all went. How did it go?”

A weak chuckle left you and you said, “It all came back clear so far. Still another check up in a few months.” Through the line you could hear a throat clear turning your sister’s head, “Now you go get back to class.”

Cheerfully she bounced on her toes saying, “I will, and I’ll stop the others to share the news with them too. I love you.”

“I love you. Now don’t you get into any more trouble.”

She giggled and hung up the phone and turned to the waiting Headmaster with her arms crossed, “I’m sorry.”

“You know you are only permitted-,”

“I know, but see, my older sister has cancer,” parting the woman’s lips, “Had surgery for it, just got her first check up after. It couldn’t wait four more days. I’m sorry.”

The Headmaster sighed and motioned her hands, “This once I will allow it. In the future kindly try to have her appointments scheduled on the weekends.”

She nodded, “I will tell her.”

“Off to class.”

#Thorin x Reader OC #Hobbit #lotr

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mentalmimosa · 5 years

Text

quite so impossible

Prompt: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics.

It doesn’t go so well the first time.

All right, it doesn’t go well at all.

It’s not as if it was the first time for either of them, by any means; over the years, Bucky’s had enough to fill a stadium--sometimes by duty, not choice--and Tony, well… He worked hard for his reputation, back in the day, and even though it’s been a while since his bed saw anything headline-worthy, the metaphorical notches on his bedpost don’t lie. Alphas are usually the ones who preen over their scoreboards, as it were, but then Tony’s always made a point of thumbing his nose at convention, especially other people’s morays, so why not have a go at biology and the social construction of sex, eh? Besides, back in the day, it really pissed people off to see an omega act like a slut (their word, not Tony’s)--which has always been Tony’s favorite incentive; he’s spent his life making outrage an art.

So they’d both danced the mambo before, is the point, many, many damn times, and it’s understandable, then, why they thought having a go at each other in bed would be a simple if mutually delightful exercise.

Imagine their surprise when it wasn't.

Oh, everybody comes. That's not the problem. Balls are wrung dry, a knot tied; thanks to Bucky’s warm, metal fingers, his semi-felonious tongue, Tony's never been so wet in his life. But in the matter of the deed itself, the actual act of penetration, something doesn’t feel right.

“What?” Tony says through slim teeth, pushing back the scrum of Bucky’s hair. “What’s wrong?”

Bucky’s perched above him, arms trembling. His body is covered in sweat and the low smell of Tony’s come and he’s the same divine leonine who’s haunted Tony’s dreams for months, ever since he walked into the offices of Carbonell and Co. training a scent that send every omega on the floor scrambling to their respective doors to gape at him ambling by. But it was Tony’s door he was heading for; Tony with whom he sat for an interview for the new Head of Security post; Tony who had to battle back every hard-wired desire to actually listen to what James Buchanan Barnes was saying instead of a) hiring or b) climbing the man on the spot.

In the end, he’d behaved himself and hired Bucky because he was the best fit, not the hottest, but that gorgeous tension he’d felt the first time they shook hands--without gloves, because Tony was old enough to make his own dumb decisions, thanks, and that’s just how he rolls--the thing that had made Bucky’s nose flare and those ridiculously blue eyes sweep up to his slow (cue the music), it continued to linger, to keep Tony up at night in the nicest possible way. And sometimes, when he managed to sneak a peek at Bucky in a meeting or on the plane or in the back of the car at night when Jarvis was taking the long way home, he imagined that he’d catch that look again, Bucky’s, like he had that first day: a look that said I see you, omega; a look that said I want you; a look that said And I mean to have you, someday.

Never mind that Bucky was 30some and stunning, a magazine model of an alpha walking through the world in real life, while Tony was inching past 50, a little longer in the tooth, gray hair fighting black and skinnier than he’d been back in the day. Bucky was muscle, Bucky was fine, and Tony had always been handsome, that he could still hang his hat on, but he wasn’t the picture of omega twink all the kids seemed to go for these days, that’s for sure. When he was young and dumb, that had worked for him, being different; he loved being everybody’s flavor of the month. But now that he was older and slightly more wise, the pictures on the newstand, on the TV, of good-looking and scantily-dressed omegas stuck with him more than they should have; anyway, now that he was of a distinctly different demographic, they were a lot harder to ignore.

Loneliness, though, had its privileges, and one of those were the hours between lights out and dawn when he could imagine Bucky beside him, those strong, scarred hands stroking his chest; that soft, pursed mouth on his neck, on his nipples, turning up in a chuckle as Tony shivered and rocked.

That Bucky might really want him didn’t seem quite so impossible, in the dark.

Fast forward then to that night, this one, when Bucky had come up to the penthouse late bearing plans for the trip to Rio that couldn’t wait and they’d ended up like this, naked and greedy in Tony’s bed, Tony wrung dry twice already (fuck that, over 50) and Bucky growling (or he had been), biting at Tony’s neck and promising more.

Except something had changed once he’d given Tony his cock, once he’d spread apart Tony’s knees and damn well mounted him and shoved that big, beautiful dick up inside.

Now, his face is shuttered, his eyes dim. It’s as if a curtain’s been drawn. Oh, he’s still hard, still poised to give Tony the fuck of his life. But something’s wrong; Tony can feel it, smell it, see it when Bucky looks down at him at last.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he croaks. God, he sounds like he’s on the verge of tears. “Not for me, Tone. Want me to stop?”

Tony’s whole body curls at the words, almost like a command: hold him in don't let him go. Stop? Now? Oh, hell no.

He tries to say that but at that comes out is a groan, like something supernatural, a ghost welling up and out of his throat, and with that, Bucky’s hips shove and he cries out and then the bed is shaking, quaking, as Tony throws his head back and holds on for dear fucking life.

And it's good. Oh, fuck is it ever. Coming with Bucky groaning in his ear is Tony's new favorite kink.

But after, when Bucky’s tied in and pulsing steadily into the condom, the smell’s wrong, something in the air is; as good as Tony’s idiot body feels, something, his gut tells him, is seriously wrong.

“Bucky,” he murmurs. They’re on their sides now, face to face, Bucky’s hands folded around Tony’s ass, keeping himself mounted firmly inside. “What’s the matter?”

“Shhhh,” Bucky says. He kisses the sound in Tony’s mouth once, and then twice. “Everything’s fine.”

Yeah, but it’s not, though, Tony wants to say, means to, but the hormones flooding his system are a lot and it’s been a decade since he’s come three times in one night and he’s tired, exquisitely so, the sort of tired that only comes when he’s been fucked like this, used and bred and filled and never mind the condom, the small but pertinent fact that Bucky isn’t his mate; in the moment, as Bucky keeps coming, keeps whimpering, a small, desperate noise at the back of his throat, Tony’s idiot body doesn’t know any better. All it knows is that he’s full and he’s made an alpha happy and it’s not so far a leap, is it, to believe that all that warmth, all those sweet, sticky feelings his pheromones are feeling mean that he’s safe and he’s loved and that Bucky--beautiful, wounded Bucky who’s seen shit that Tony can’t bring himself to imagine--will stay there with him, in him, always.

In the stale light of morning, though, Bucky’s gone, and that odd smell of something unsettled lingers, deepens. It’s louder than the smell of Bucky’s come. He’d spilled some on the bed, Tony remembers vaguely, when he’d finally drawn himself out and peeled back the condom and--

“Holy shit,” Tony had said, sleepy, tottering on the edge of good sense. “You always give it up like that? Fuck. I’m surprised the damn thing didn’t break.”

Bucky hadn’t looked at him. Had kept his eyes on the weight of the condom, the bulging, wet stretch. Said: “Been awhile for me, that’s all.”

“Mmmm, hurry up and get rid of it.” Tony had stretched out his leg, nudged Bucky’s back with his calf. “Need you back.”

“Can’t. I have Ops in two hours.”

“You can sleep here, alpha.”

Bucky had turned back to face Tony, the condom shaking in his hand, and they’d both heard the seed spill on the sheets, smelled it. Which had only, apparently, made matters worse.

“I have to go.” The words gruff, abrupt. The bed shaking as Bucky shot up. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Tony had said, remembers saying. “You know what, Buck? I don’t think you are. Not one damn little bit.”

Bucky stood up, a long line in the shadows. “Think what you want.”

And that was it, poof; condom in the trash and clothes gathered and not so much as a kiss goodbye.

“Your briefing’s at two today,” Bucky had said at the door. “I’ll have the Rio options we talked about drawn up for you to review.”

“Fine.” He’d sounded hurt because he was, damn it; saw no reason to hide it. He deserved better than a fuck-and-run. Didn't he?

Bucky had lingered for a moment. “Tony," he said finally. It sounded like a question.

“What?”

He heard Bucky take a deep breath. “Forget it. It's nothing. I'll see you this afternoon. Goodbye."

Now, sitting up alone in the light a few hours later, the sheets stink of Bucky, the whole room does: the pillows, the covers, Tony’s skin--they all reek of alpha, and if he weren’t so fucking old, if Bucky hadn’t drained him dry, he’d be hard again, Tony thinks; he’d be rutting into the sheets, acting like a teenager the morning after they took their first knot.

But he has years on him now, miles, experience, and his dick isn’t ready for that trick. Plus, it just makes him sad, because what lingers too is the sense that something he didn’t understand had gone sideways, very very wrong, and what it was and why it shut Bucky down, he has no goddamn clue. Not at all.

So it’s good that he’d old, he tells himself as he pads towards the shower. Never mind that his ass aches and his back’s strained and that there are bruises on his hips, big ones, from the power of Bucky’s flesh and metal hands. It’s a blessing this morning that his cock’s too tired to stand up, even to the scent of an alpha. It’s a good thing, it is, because if he was hard and alone instead of just being alone, floating on the feeling of the night before instead of standing under the spray to wash it off, then his eyes might not be dry, then he might be hurting. Then he might even let himself be fucking sad.

He’s not, though. This is what Tony tells himself. He’s fine. Bucky fucked him nine ways to Sunday. That’s all that he’s wanted from the man, right?

It isn’t, of course. And Tony knows that.

But Bucky, twisting in an office chair across town as his Ops Team files in clutching coffee and shooting the shit? Does not.

Yeah, Bucky, master tactician, former (unofficial) assassin, has no grip on his situation with Tony. But then, to be fair, how would you tell a guy that you slept with but also signs your paychecks that, oops, sorry, turns out that you think he’s ideal mate, that you came two shakes from claiming him without his consent, that it took everything you had in the tank not to hold him down on your dick and bite your desire into his the soft skin of his neck until he was yours, period full stop, whether he liked it or not?

He should have pulled out, Bucky thinks miserably, gnawing on the end of his pen. No, he shouldn’t have kissed the man in the first place. But he’d looked so unspun, Tony had; tie off and shirt open, the gray and black hair underneath. And his smell--god, Tony always smelled good, but ensconced at home, in his own sacred space, his ease and contentment had made the air ache from the smell of spring, of blooming flowers and green cut grass and when he’d smiled at Bucky, smiled and patted his knee and tried to hand him a drink, Bucky had taken the glass and shoved it at the table and reached for Tony, at last, instead.

Since the first day they'd met, he'd wanted to do that: to stretch his arms across the table or the aisle or the seat and tug Tony against him, nuzzle the sharp gray turn of Tony's beard, lick the pale stretch of his neck. Even during his interview, all he could think about was what Tony would look with his back on the desk and his pants down, his face writhing as Bucky stroked his fingers inside. And then Tony had shaken his hand at the end, palm to palm, and he'd gotten so hard in the elevator he'd had to find a bathroom before he made it to the car and worked one out into his palm. And then last night, fuck, it was Tony's come that he'd cupped there, wasn't it, that sweet omega heat spilling over his knuckles before it had gone sideways, before he'd--

“Sir?” one of the guys says, Rogers, he of the big, earnest eyes that lead the troops to look in Bucky’s direction. “I think we’re all here.”

“Are we? Good. Fine.” Bucky rubs the bridge of his nose and picks up his notes. “Hill, is that you over there by the panel? Hit the lights.”

#winteriron #a/b/o dynamics #age difference #first time #that doesn't go so well

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singlecellanniversaries · 6 years

Text

masterpost of @princessplantasaurus’s plankaren fics for my own reference

except the very smutty ones, those went straight to my nsfw blog

Musical/All Human:

Pregnancy Scare

New Year’s Kiss

Right after the “Big Guy” scene

“Such big evil in such a little thing.”

“Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably.”

They murder Fred and try to hide the body

Plankton thinks it’s a date, Karen thinks it’s a job interview

Plankton walks in on Karen singing

Karen is actually pregnant

“That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for not getting me chocolates.”

Sexy Popsicle Trope

Karen tries to make Plankton jealous

BEACH DAY!!!

Pregnant Karen Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

“I don’t want to scheme without you anymore”

Plankton Proposes

“I thought it was a one night stand.”

Cuddling after just waking up

“How long have you been standing there?”

Comfort Cuddling

Plankton forgets Karen's birthday and scrambles to get her a gift

“Come to bed” kisses

Kisses after sexytimes

“You look beautiful” kisses

Karen tries to prevent someone else from proposing to Plankton

“Tipsy Sheldon wants to pin you to the couch, but he won’t because you’re holding a drink and he’s a gentleman.”

After a Fight

“You can’t banish me! This is my bed too!”

“I think we need better communication skills.”

Two weeks after the events of the musical

“I didn’t settle for you!”

The prompt was “Unbreakable” but I’d be doing everyone a disservice if I don’t refer to this as “MY LEG!”

Pregnant Karen Part 3: The Third One

Pregnant Karen Part 4: Krabs is a Jerk

“It’s not my fault we’re tied up together!”

“Don’t tempt me.”

MORE DRUNK PLANKTON

More post-musical fluff

“No, you didn't wake me up. I couldn't sleep either.”

Pregnant Karen Part 5: THEY HAD TWINS

“Hold my hand.”

Hangover Fluff!

“This is just a big game of chicken to you, isn’t it?”

Karen vents to the Krusty Krab crew and Krabs agrees to a "date" with her to rile up Plankton

“Can’t a man admire his wife’s face in peace?!?”

"Is that the formula in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

Too Drunk to Drive

“Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Never apologize for that.”

Sequel to Karen stopping the proposal

“I’ve learned that you telling me to ‘shut up’ is really just you saying ‘stop making me blush.’”

“This is why none of your schemes work without me.”

“My friends need to be punished!”

Plankton fails at speaking Chinese but at least Karen thinks he sounds cute while trying

This really is the world’s smallest man playing “My Heart Bleeds For You” on a tiny violin!

Karen bails Plankton out of jail

EVEN MORE DRUNK PLANKTON

Musical/All Human with Robot Karen:

Karen finds out Plankton cheated on her years ago

First Meeting

A Valentine’s Day Misunderstanding

Karen gets a virus

Having “The Talk”

EXTREMELY SAD CUDDLES

Much happier follow up to the sad cuddles

Karen’s Nightmare

Making History

How they got engaged

Karen never imagined herself in a wedding dress...

“YOU CALLED ME HARDWARE!”

Karen Vs. Siri

“You looked so tired, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“You’re the most important person in my life.”

Soulmates

“I wasn’t drunk last night. I meant it when I told you I loved you.”

“She told me I’m an idiot if I don’t ask you out after all of this.”

Soulmates Part 2

Soulmates Part 3

College AU (based on this fic):

Pregnancy Scare College Edition

New Year’s Kiss College Edition

“It was his sly smile and sweet talking that got her to sign up in the first place.”

“I need a favour.”

AU of the AU where Plankton is a TA

“It’s the first week of the semester, what reason could you possibly have for being at the library right now?”

“I was really drunk and you walked me safely back to my dorm room.”

“You think eyepatches are sexy?”

Singing in the dorm shower!

Roommates AU of the AU!

awkward parental holiday plankaren hijinks™

Plankton’s roommate keeps locking him out

Plankton runs into Karen with his bike

Hooking Up

IT Help Desk Shenanigans

“The student center had free condoms” aka the funniest prompt ever

Costume Party!

Meeting Karen’s Parents

Karen finds Plankton crying in the computer lab

“Why is your skin so soft?”

Plankton sets off the fire alarm at 3 am in the dead of winter

“What’s wrong with now?”

Plankton actually being wholesome for once

This isn’t what “Netflix and chill” is, Plankton

A study session takes a turn for the embarrassing

More actually wholesome Plankton

Plankton is short and adorable

In a Crowded Hallway

Sheldon “Stares Creepily At His Girlfriend Until She Marries Him” Plankton, Everybody

Sandy catches them making out in the bathroom

Plankton’s gonna have to call his parents back

“Walking across campus should not have been a contact sport.”

“Sweetheart, shut up and drink your coffee.”

Tinder Shenanigans

Plankton gets territorial

“Just a little love bite!”

DAMMIT SPOT NOT NOW (HELLA SEXY but not really enough to be full on smut imo)

“If you really wanted to thank me, you’d tell me who did this so I can plot my homicide.”

Plankton is sick, Karen nurses him back to health with soup and mandatory cuddles

Taking a bath together (again quite sexy but still sfw enough)

Karen knows how to motivate Plankton to exercise

Karen wants to study, Plankton wants to make out

Karen sarcastically calls Plankton “Doctor” but he gets turned on by it

Dinner with Karen’s family

“I’m getting real bored and impatient. I don’t do bored and impatient.”

They take each other’s underwear from the laundromat by mistake

Plankton buys a date with Karen at a charity auction and he’s probably a serial killer

Game Night!

Their Families Meet

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day Part 2

Valentine’s Day Part 3

They get caught by an RA

Valentine’s Day Part 4

Soulmates College Edition

Fake Dating Trope

Karen meets Spot

Valentine’s Day Part 5

WEDDING DAY!!!

“Grab me a cookie.”

They meet baby Pearl

Plankton tries to hide the fact he hasn’t slept the past few nights due to nightmares from Karen

Plankton is creepy, the sky is blue and water is wet

Sequel to the families meeting

"Sharing is caring, now give me your fries."

Krabs knows they’re dating but they won’t admit it

And the sequel!

Plankton introduces himself to Karen’s parents

Plankton loses his phone, Karen finds it

Plankton leaves gifts in Karen’s locker

COFFEE SHOP AU OF THE AU

Plankton hurts his ankle and refuses to see a doctor

Karen needs to get out of bed, Plankton disagrees

Plankton’s grandma is a jerk

“This is by far the stupidest plan you've ever created. Of course I'm in.”

Dangerous Territory

"Am I supposed to be impressed?”

“I’m your new girl?”

“You’re not going to die, okay? Stop googling your symptoms and go see an actual doctor.”

“Is it alright if I call you princess?”

They get WAY too drunk at a party

Plankton and Sandy fight over Karen

“Delete it. Now.”

“I love this song! Want to dance?”

“Stay the night. Please.”

Having Breakfast

“When you were drunk last night you kept telling me I kiss better than anyone, and I don’t know why since we’ve never kissed before.”

“You need a jello shot!”

“And there he was, standing proudly in her 5 inch heels.”

“How can a lab table be better than another?” “Depends on what you’re using them for.”

“My ex is on their way over here, quick, make out with me!”

“I could post a video of me mixing cake batter with my boobs and it would get eight million hits.”

“D-Do that again...”

#I HIT THE PLANKAREN GOLDMINE!!!!!!!#LOOK AT ALL OF THESE #I HAVENT EVEN READ THEM ALL YET #BUT DAMN SKIPPY AM I SURE GOING TO!!!!#also the college au is SO GOOD everyone please read the AO3 fic it came from #plankaren #single cell anniversaries #sbsp college au #princessplantasaurus

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beeanders-blog1 · 6 years

Text

TILL SOMEONE GETS HURT

TAGGING: @beeanders @elliegilbert

LOCATION: Battle of the Bands Round 8, Backstage

NOTES: Blair and Ellie have an #awkward moment before they go on.

BLAIR

Backstage at BOTB, Blair wasn’t sure where she should go or what she should do. It was the first time she’d ever performed with Pamela Lansbury, and to be perfectly honest, she felt very much out of place in her leather jacket, gold crop top and bandage skirt. She missed her plaid skirt and bright red blazer, but she supposed this would have to do. As she worked on several vocal exercises, she paced the backstage area, where she then knocked into Ellie. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Blair immediately put two hands out to steady her. “Are you okay? I didn’t mess up the glitter, did I?”

ELLIE

Just like every other BOTB, Ellie Gilbert had a very particularly schedule. She would spend her mornings running through her songs, shower, eat avocado toast to get her in a better and healthier mindset for the show, and arrive at BOTB far too early to get herself in the best possible mood. However, today had provided slight complications, mostly in the form of Kate also being there early. It was awkward, and while Ellie managed to get through the encounter, she wasn’t in the best of moods. “Glitter,” she whispered to herself before she was stepping up her game. It was 80’s night anyway, right? Glitter was acceptable in large quantities. However, once she was all glittered up, she was immediately running into someone: Blair. “No, n-no, I’m sorry. I’m... it’s all in tact no worries. I think I could afford to lose some,” Ellie explained with a slight laugh as she looked down, realizing she was holding onto Blair’s steadying forearms before retreating her touch. An instant Ellie Gilbert smirk landed on her lips as she noted the outfit of her friend... companion? Enemy? She wasn’t sure anymore. “Black and gold looks good on you, Bee.”

BLAIR

“That’s good,” Blair nodded, as she steadied herself in the giant pair of black heels she had on. “And thanks, but don’t let any of the Warblettes hear that...” she teased, gently nudging Ellie, even though she wasn’t sure what kind of level they were on. Since the start of the year, Blair felt closer to Ellie than she ever had in her life, and knowing how they had fallen so far, so quickly... well, it was disheartening to say the least. “Do I look okay? I mean, the jacket isn’t too much, right?”

ELLIE

“I’ll try not to go blabbing to them,” Ellie assured with a warm smile as she welcomed the contact with Blair. She swallowed hard as she glanced over her being. God, she missed her. She missed being dumb with her and making jokes whilst watching movies far too late into the night. She missed her friend. “What?” Ellie asked, her tone filled with disbelief as she shook her head. “You look incredible. Seriously. The jacket is the perfect touch. All you need is some glitter and you’d be upstanding even myself,” she joked with a smile as she shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t feel confident standing before the girl. She felt small and sad and weak and it was all because she wanted her best friend back.

BLAIR

“Are you actually offering to share your glitter with me?” Blair asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. “Because I think the world is about to end, or something...” with a slight laugh, Blair ran a hand through her dark hair. Okay, so this was awkward. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as Blair thought it would be to breathe the same air as Ellie again. “Feel like helping me put some on?”

ELLIE

“I’m just waiting to be smited by the glitter gods and fall right into the pits of no glitter allowed hell,” Ellie retorted back with a smile. She recognized the awkwardness but something inside of her was fighting to engage in such things. She hated being without their friendship. “Really?” She asked with a small smile, her tone hopeful. “We have plenty of time for the proper glitter application,” she said as she playfully bumped into Blair’s side. “My stuff is in the other room, do you want to...?”

BLAIR

“I can’t imagine why you’d be there,” Blair began, but she quickly bit down on her lower lip as she realized— oh yes, she could. “Yeah, really. If I’m going to Blairidict Andernold my girls, I might as well go all the way.” Laughing, she bumped into Ellie right back. “Yeah, let’s go. I was trying to figure out how to do my hair, anyway. Cutting it all off seems like the best idea right now, to be honest.”

ELLIE

Ellie glanced over Blair’s face with a small smile before she was shaking her head. “It’s a good idea to do this. Who knows, maybe I’ll come over to the blue and red side next BOTB with you guys,” she offered, not exactly thinking such things would go over well. She wasn’t exactly the most loved person around Acup nowadays. “No hair cutting necessary. We’ll figure something out,” she said as she started walking towards the room where her stuff was. “You should really just... leave it though. Looks good right now,” Ellie said as she played with the ends of Blair’s hair for a second before moving her hand away.

BLAIR

“We would love that,” Blair immediately replied, wanting to immediately correct herself. “I mean, I would love that. I’m sure the other girls would, too. Inter-band unity and all. It can get rough with the competition out there...” Blair cleared her throat, trying not to feel horribly awkward as ellie touched the bottom of her hair. “Thanks. I feel as if I need some kind of drastic change to validate myself as a person, it’s very bizarre.” After a moment, Blair took a deep breath— and the plunge. “How are you?”

ELLIE

As Blair rambled, Ellie couldn’t help but smile at the action. It was such a slight thing that occurred but one that made her somehow miss Blair even more than she already did. “Maybe we’ll just all band swap one day so we can truly understand and appreciate each other’s craft,” Ellie explained as she passed the threshold of the room, immediately fleeing to her bag and grabbing her makeup. “Bizarre looks good on you then,” she mumbled with a smile as she grabbed the glitter that she was constantly using. “I’m good, Bee. How are you?” Both questions were fully loaded.

BLAIR

“That would be very cool,” Blair agreed, feeling herself start to actually relax. Falling back into her friendship with Ellie was so easy and yet so dangerous. “Ah— Thanks,” she shied away from ellie slightly, never one to take a compliment well. “I’m okay. I had a callback this week. Didn’t get the part, but the fact that I’ve been auditioning again to begin with is a huge deal.”May 24, 2018

ELLIE

"I'm proud of you," Ellie mused for a moment as she held a container of glitter in her hand, brush in the other. "It takes a lot to start auditioning again and I just... I know your big role is coming soon." Ellie had all of the hope in the world for Blair and what she was capable of. "Now, just hold still. I'm not giving you the full Starchild experience, okay?" She said with a smile as she started applying small amounts of glitter to Blair's face, her eyes lingering on hers. She missed her. "I missed this a lot."

BLAIR

Blair shrugged, biting down on her lower lip out of the nerves. “Yeah, I’m determined now more than ever. Since I keep letting bad things happen to me, I’m trying to make good things happen to me.” With a shrug, she tilted her face up towards Ellie with the intent of getting herself glittered. Blair sucked in a deep breath as she spoke, and immediately felt her resolve start to break. “Yeah,” she replied, looking down at her shoes. “I miss you too, Ellie. So much.”

ELLIE

Ellie nodded at Blair’s words as she applied the glitter, feeling herself swallow a lump in her throat that she hadn’t known was there. She hated being one of those bad things. “Here comes the sun for you, Blair Anderson. I can just feel it,” Ellie mused with a warm smile as she dove back in for more glitter. She halted her application at Blair’s words before she was softly cupping her cheek with her hand. “I’m really sorry, okay? I’m not... I just... i miss you. And us. And hanging out until 6am watching shitty movies and drinking shitty wine.” She stopped herself quickly before going back to applying glitter. “There. Better than ever,” she replied, stepping back to admire Blair in all her Pamela Lansbury and glitter glory.

BLAIR

“Doo doo doo doo,” Blair sang along, ever the Beatles freak. “And I say— it’s alright,” she hummed the guitar riff under her breath before swiping a strand of stray hair back behind her ear. It was hard to hear Ellie say those things, especially when Blair was on the same page. She missed the feeling of knowing that Ellie was her biggest supporter and her number one fan. It hurt that they couldn’t continue the easygoing friendship they’d shared, but Blair didn’t know what else to do. Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Blair teased, with a gentle smile. “Loser still buys winner the post-BOTB shot, right?”

ELLIE

Ellie smiled wide as Blair followed along with her ploy for closeness. “Beatles nerd,” she mumbled with a wink of her eye before shaking her head. Blair was a vision of beauty, and Ellie didn’t just think that because of the PL colors that she was sporting. She just was. “We’ll get a picture later yeah? After you buy me a shot,” Ellie teased before wetting her lips and looking over Blair’s makeup once more. “You really look good in glitter. Don’t go stealing my look, Bee.”

BLAIR

“You wish!” Blair teased her back. “The drink is on you tonight, Starchild. I don’t know if you saw our Warblette costumes but we are going to completely rock this.” As she glanced into the nearby mirror, Blair shifted her head to take a look at the way the planes of her face literally sparkled. “I won’t go stealing your look, don’t you worry. Too tough to clean off.” She held out a hand, as if Ellie would shake it. “No harm, no foul?”

ELLIE

“Alright Anderson. I guess we’ll be seeing who is shelling out the money tonight,” she said with a laugh before crossing her arms across her chest. Ellie’s favorite part of their friendship had always been the playful banter on BOTB nights - it was worlds better than the malicious words they used to share. “I’m going to keep my post glitter skin care regimen to myself to ensure that you don’t steal my look.” Ellie looked down at Blair’s hand with a playful smirk before she was immediately shaking her head. “No harm, no foul, Bee.” Ellie! Get your pasty ass over here! Ellie’s eyes immediately followed the voice of her band mate before she was laughing. “I gotta... Dani wanted to run through things one more time so... good luck, Bee, Okay?” Without warning, Ellie immediately closed the space between them as she hugged Blair firmly.

BLAIR

Blair was used to many a Battle of the Bands where Ellie wouldn’t even look at her, and she really didn’t want to go back to that. Their friendship was something that had developed over time, and turned into something beautiful and rare that Blair didn’t think she could ever replicate. “Yeah, good luck to you too. Break a leg. Or a microphone. Or something,” Blair shrugged, as she quickly ran a hand through her dip-dyed locks. “I’ll see you onstage.”

#acup: botb #acup: botb8 #post: till someone gets hurt #post: ellie #d: ellie #post

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shinobicyrus · 7 years

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“Tooth and Claw”

Haven’t written much Phandom stuff lately, so I thought I’d try something for this year’s Ectober. This one’s for October 26th: TEETH

It was probably a bad sign how long it took for Tucker to figure out which of the tech in his bag was beeping. Had to crouch over it on the sidewalk sifting through a tablet, an old phone, his backup battery charger, two different generations of game boys, his backup-backup charger; Sam always warned him he was slowly sliding down a slippery silicon slope into pseudo-hoarding.

He found the culprit near the bottom of the bag: a Fenton ecto-scope tangled up in some old cables for a model of PDA he…didn’t actually own anymore. Sam must never know.

It was a cobbled-together monster made from grave-robbing radio-shacks and amateur soldering kits. Taking it out of the bag only made it vibrate and beep more urgently. The scope took some finagling with a few stuck knobs and dials before the static on screen resolved into something informative: the pixelated silhouettes of trees and a cold-spot slithering past them in toxic, neon green.

Tucker lowered the scope and squinted down the block. The park was that way. Damn. Rustling through his pockets, he pulled out his main phone and pinged Danny on the secure messenger app they’d set up for Phantom stuff- because it wasn’t paranoia when the government really was hunting you down.

GROUPCHAT: WHO YA GONNA CALL? (THE D)

You: Code Green in the park You: class idk whatever the hell AW SHIT THAT’S BIG is Danny: ok I can be there in 8 Danny: keep your head down till I get there

Tucker typed back ‘You know me,’ and added a scardey-faced emoticon.

Danny: :/ You: I choose to interpret that as loving concern for my safety You: don’t text and fly have you learned nothing from the billboard incident You: such a bad role model You: Thing of the kids You: *think You: Plz hurry

Tucker pocketed his phone before Danny remembered the talk-to-text feature. Or if Sam logged on. Like he needed their reminders not to try stuff solo. He was fully capable on standing on a streetcorner like a good sidekick and wait for the big kids to come and-

A scream cut through the night, echoes elongating on concrete and broken asphalt.

From the park.

Where the monster-ghost was.

Tucker groaned. “Aw hell,” and ran down the street towards it.

Being a technophillic pseudo-shut-in whose primary mode of exercise was patrolling haunted warehouses and fleeing for his life, Tucker was pretty unfamiliar with the park. The light from the scattering of streetlamps following the paths was too few and far between, and the shadows from the trees offered too many places for an attack to come from. Honestly, even without the ghost this place was a deathtrap.

But whatever, he was committed. He had a Fenton wrist blaster raised and trained on anything that sounded bigger than a grasshopper while he followed the chiming ectoscope.

It all resembled a scene from one of Sam’s Femalien movies a little too close for comfort: the squad of buff, hypermasculine space marines of the spacepatriachy, gung-ho and completely unaware how quickly their collective space-asses were about to get wrecked.

He kept walking. The ectoscope pinged faster. Danny said eight minutes, right? And that was…not eight minutes ago, but sooner than it was earlier. All he had to do was rescue the nice human people from being chewtoys and preferably not get full-ghosted himself.

A twig snapped. Tucker almost shot a startled rabbit, eyes shining on the edge of a streetlight. It hopped away until it melted into the long shadows of the mini-woods.

“This is a good plan,” Tucker decided. Out loud. On the record.

Further down the path, where the path looped around a copse of trees and the scarce light flickered weakly, Tucker heard another scream.

He ran towards it. Look out, creatures of the netherworld, it’s a coward with a guuuun!

Around the bend, the lights were completely out, smothered and snuffed by a low buzzing hum that smelled like ozone and made the ectoscope sputter into a snowstorm of static. There was still plenty of light to see by. Sick, witch-cauldron green radiating from the ghost swimming ethereally in the air like a giant watersnake, only segmented, SUV-sized, and a head that was more a gaping chasm of sawteeth than actual head.

That sarlacc mouth was perfectly sized to swallow up a lady in jogger clothes, who was pretty much paralyzed with fear…or maybe it was some kind of hypnotic gaze? Maybe that was what the noise was: lulling the prey just long enough to send them to the Boba-Fett Place.

Tucker threw the ectoscope aside, braced the arm with the wrist-blaster, and shot right down the thing’s ugly mouth.

The low buzzing in the air cut off into a gurgling screech. It reared up, spitting up ecto-bile and vaporized gullet. Tucker’s next two shots hit along its body, making it spasm mid-air like a breathless fish to crash writhing into the grass.

“Wha-?” The lady said, either broken by the spell or just plain baffled by daring rescue. Tuck ran up to stand between her and the ghost, blaster at the ready.

“Just go, I’ll hold it off!” Tucker yelled over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be-”

Annnddd she was already gone. Oh wow she could really book it. Guess that explained the jogging shorts. Still.

“What, not even half a second of hesitation?!” Tucker yelled at the receding sound of her shoes. “I know I told you to run, but jeez, a little concern for- oh hi you’re up.”

The baby shai-hulud had risen back up, not floating but still long enough to cast a shadow over him. From that close, its outraged roar smelled a little like sun-rotted roadkill.

“Okay, you’re a little mad, I hear you,” Tucker leveled the blaster at it. “But here’s my rebuttal.”

Then the blaster didn’t fire.

Tucker rapidly thumbed the firing switch again. A third time. The blaster shuddered a bit on his wrist, made an sad, tired electric whine. It sounded too much like a whomp whomp on helium.

“Uh…I don’t suppose you’d let me find someplace to plug this in?” He yelped and dove to the side when the ghost lunged at him. “AH! Guess that’s a ‘no’!”

Oh God how had he thought this was a good plan.

Tucker ran, pulled out every stop he knew from years of tactically fleeing horrifying undead monsters. Thankfully however he’d hurt it before kept it from flying after him, and it didn’t seem smart enough to phase through the trash cans, streetlights, and park benches that got in its way. Or maybe it was just super pissed.

Somehow he managed to pull out his phone in the middle of a zigzag, checked the time. Another three minutes? Two? Like Danny was ever freaking on time for anything in his half-life. “Call Danny!” He yelled.

The phone showed him a profile pic of Danielle and Tucker cosplaying at last year’s nerd-con. “Calling ‘DANI’…”

“Wrong one stupid clone-racist phone! CALL DANNY!”

“Calling ‘DADDY…’“

“How the fuck even?!”

Technology you’ve failed me. I’ve shown you nothing but allegedly obsessive love and you do me like that.

The ghost’s glow cast behind him warned Tucker just in time to skid beneath a low-branch and let it ram into the tree instead. Wood crunched and he shuddered thinking of being chewed and ground down to the bone between those teeth.

It was okay, the plan was going great. He was still alive, stalling for time. Danny would get here, follow the sound of ghost roars and Tucker’s manly not-panicking screams, thermos the worm, then grab some nice post-hunt midnight bro-grub and crack jokes about how Tucker almost got eaten by-

Something snagged his ankle, cutting Tucker’s speed from adrenaline-fueled to face-meets-ground with gravity-speed. Screw you too, psychics.

He managed to throw up his arms in time to shield his face. Pain lanced up his forearm and burned scraps into his palms. His glasses where askew, the world gone crooked and blurred. Neck twisted to follow the cold, wet feeling slowly dragging him through a bed of dead leaves.

A long, slick glowing tendril coming from the ghost’s mouth pulled him closer and closer into its waiting maw. The hum turned into hungry, gleeful gurgles.

Oh. This was. This was not in the plan.

Tucker dug his raw hands into the ground, dragging fistfuls of leaves and wet dirt. The light from his phone screen was just an arms length ahead, pulling away, no matter how much he kicked and scrambled and tried to pull himself forward. He thought there’d be more screaming and babbling on his end. Instead he was focusing every molecule of air on breathing, trying to get his crappy body Sam used for workout fodder to fight, stop that grinding progress towards it.

He was close enough to kick it, watch its expectant slobber dribble on his ripped cargo pants. Stupidly, he adjusted his glasses; got a nice, non-blurry view of that garbage disposal mouth, a hungry pit lined with thumb-sized teeth he could reach up and touch.

Tucker’s entire life, the whole of him, boiled down to this. He always figured his last thoughts would be of his mom, crammed between Sam and Danny on his too-small bed binging bad anime, the way Ingrid bit her lip nervously before she decided to give him his first kiss.

Instead, he just swallowed and said: “Oh Grandmother, what big teeth you have.”

Jesus, good thing no one was around to hear that.

“LASU LIN IRI!”

A furious growl tore through the trees- a wrecking ball of black and green slammed into the side of the ghost-worm. It reared up and shrieked with pain, the tendril around Tucker’s ankle somehow slack and severed.

The smart thing would be to move. Tucker numbly continued to sit there, jaw hanging as his rescuer clung to the side of the ghost-worm and tore into it with massive claws.

“Wulf?”

The ghost-worm bucked and wiggled, then body-slammed itself into the ground, forcing Wulf to leap off and land on all fours. His eyes were solid green and burning, snarling something in ghost Tucker couldn’t catch. They went at each other, tearing the small forest around them apart. The worm’s hide was pierced and bleeding in a dozen places, but it had desperation and a metric fuckton of bulk to throw around.

Wulf took cover in the trees, leaping from branch to branch, constantly circling and taking advantage of every opportunity to claw at its blind spots (how did it see though? did it even have eyes where the hell were its eyes?). Tucker realized his mistake when it dawned on him how much energy Wulf was wasting trying to keep that thing’s attention off of him, how Wulf was trying to protect him.

The worm must have realized it at the same time. Tucker saw it coming, tried to yell and warn him, but it came too fast- Wulf was blindsided by the worm’s tail end, flew and hit the trunk of a tree and went down hard. Pulled himself up with strain shaking his shoulders.

The worm let out a skree of victory and hurled itself towards Wulf. Faster than Tucker could shout, he saved himself by cutting a portal into solid air and diving in just before the worm hit, flattening itself and splintering the tree like a brittle toothpick.

It rolled and flopped on the ground, like it was having some kind of tantrum. Pulling itself back up, its mouth-head swiveled around, searching for some sign of Wulf, until it settled back on Tucker.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know where he went.”

A muffled, tearing noise came from somewhere in the worm’s middle.

“Nevermind.”

Wulf burst out of worm’s midsection claws first with a howl, an explosion like a sledgehammer to a watermelon that splattered Tucker and everything in sight with green. The worm didn’t even have any breath left inside, much less insides at all, to even make a dying noise as it fell over like a deflated hose.

Panting, splattered with goopy green chunks on his claws and in his fur, Wulf stood in the clearing and panted hard. His eyes were still narrowed and dangerous, ears flat against his big head and hackles raised. Tucker had forgotten how big he was, half again as tall with enough shoulder width and muscle that would have brought Dax Baxter to weep impotent tears.

“Uh…Wulf? You okay buddy? Amiko?”

Wulf’s ears shot up, the hunch in his shoulders straightening as he spun around to look at Tucker with huge, concerned eyes. “Amiko Tuck!”

He dove at him, predator fast, and before Tucker could even flinch Wulf’s huge paws picked up Tucker and held him at Wulf’s eye-level. “Ĉu vi estas bone? Ĉu ĝi vundis vin?” His muzzle scrunched adorably as he sniffed Tucker up and down.

“Ah-ah!, that tickles! Haha- okay okay I’m fine, man. Ne…ne- nenio estas rompita.” He smiled with a split lip. “Danke al vi.”

“Sed,” A paw easily braceleted around Tucker’s wrist. “Viaj manoj…”

“Just a scrape man, really,” Tucker assured him. “It could have been- would have been a hell of a lot worse.”

Wulf’s left ear flicked, then looked pointedly at Tucker’s hands. Shaking like leaves in Wulf’s grip. It hurt his palms for Tucker to clench his fist, but it stopped the worst of the shakes. There was nothing he could do to stop the shaking in his heart, how hyperaware he was of his own pulse, the distant but twinging pain in arm, his ankle. The pressure behind his eyes.

“Please don’t tell Danny and Sam?” He asked, voice a little weaker. “I-I don’t want them to know how close it was. They’d only get worried.”

“Por bona kialo,” Wulf reprimanded him gently.

“Please? Bonvolu?”

It was funny to see a wolf’s brow furrow with deep thoughts, until finally Wulf hugged Tucker tight to his chest. A giant, fuzzy, protective barrier he could wrap his arms around.

“Thanks Wulf, you’re the best.”

“I know,” he managed, then touched his big, wet nose Tucker’s.

Heat flooded his face. “Oh my God did you just give me a dog-kiss? Is that a thing you just did?”

“Not dog,” Wulf corrected him. “Lupo.”

“You are missing the point of-”

“Tucker!” A voice dropped in from the sky.

Of course this is when Danny would get here. This is his life, this is what he deserves.

Danny floated above the torn up ground and pulverized trees and gaped at the slowly melting leftovers of the ghost-worm. “What the hell- what is Wulf doing here?”

Tucker crossed his arms across and played up snuggling against Wulf’s ghost-hoodie. Not like they weren’t both covered in worm-goop anyways. “Lucky for me you’re not the only ghost-friend I have and this one is both cuddlier and more reliable.”

“I thought I told you to sit tight until I got here!”

“An innocent midnight jogger with bad judgement and possibly insomnia was in danger. What was I supposed to do, ask it to hold up until the real hero showed up?”

That seemed to cut off whatever else Danny was planning to say. “I. There was- yeah okay that’s fair. Good work, Tuck.”

Wulf and Tucker cleared their throats.

“Both of you. Thanks for having Tucker’s back, Wulf.”

Wulf shrugged, “Ne dankinde. Tucker havis ĝin sub kontrolo.”

“I’m…going to assume that means ‘you’re welcome.’“

“Dude,” Tucker said. “Duolingo. Esperanto ain’t that hard.”

“Iz not.” Wulf said. “English.”

Danny and Tucker both laughed at the smug look on Wulf’s face.

“Well you two look thoroughly disgusting,” Danny said. “Want to skip the traditional after-hunt bro-snack and get you home to get cleaned up?”

“Hell no,” Tucker said mutinously. “Wulf and I can go back to the apartment to get cleaned, you can pick up some burgers for all three of us for being late.”

Wulf’s tail swished away some stray leaves behind him “Burgers?”

Danny blanched at the thought of paying for enough food to satisfy two grown men and a giant werewolf-ghost, but between Tucker’s guilt-trip look and Wulf’s puppy eyes, he sighed. “Okay, okay fine, I’ve got food duty. But he stays in your room until you two get that crap off you. I don’t want the whole apartment smelling like double-dead worm monster and wet dog.”

“Lupo,” They said together. Wulf’s ears perked and he grinned at Tucker with a mouthful of fangs.

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lordofthebigtimesupernatural · 7 years

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The dad shiro one shot was so good! Thank you! Whenever you get the opportunity, I think it would be so cute, especially because Baby Keef seems accident prone, if he could bonk his noggin as like a 6 year old. Maybe while he's at the park with Shiro or something because having an unconscious lil boy would probably freak Shiro out and I love that kind of stuff. You're so talented. Hope your day is good!

Aww what a cute little prompt! Keith was very accident prone up until about age 17. He took many tumbles, falls and hits as a kid. And of course Shiro always worried (more so the younger that Keith was) but he was a military man so that’s gotta count for something right? I hope you enjoy this and thank you nonny! I hope you have a great day too! I love when you guys send in these asks! I’m working on another one that will hopefully be published tomorrow about Lance, Keith and Shiro!

x.V.x

It turns out that Keith enjoyed daily visits to the park.

Shiro was surprised after the first few visits when Keith seemed to enjoy going to the park, and Shiro was just thankfully that he could get Keith out of the house and exercising. But apparently the boy liked the outdoors, especially considering this park was secluded with trees and plants all over.

Shiro was more sad that he couldn’t bring Keith to the park every day, but between school and Shiro’s work there just wasn’t enough time in the day to always go to the back. Shiro was lucky that Keith didn’t throw a fit like many other kids at six-years-old might, but that didn’t mean that Keith didn’t brood. However, Shiro tried to make it so that they could go to the park, every weekend. Sometimes it was just Keith and Shiro and other times Shiro brought along Lance, Hunk and Pidge and occasionally Allura and Coran would join them (though Shiro made sure to never leave Coran in charge of the kids, ever again).

Today was one of the days that Shiro had invited the other kids to come along with him and Keith, much to Keith’s excitement. Although, Keith wasn’t about to let Lance and the others know that. No, no. He would instead look like he was annoyed by their presences and then continue to scowl.

Shiro simply shook his head at Keith’s antics but knew within a matter of minutes that Keith would be sure to include his friends in all of his activities such as who could build the biggest sand castles, who could swing the highest, who found the best hiding spot. Shiro noticed that Keith tended to play competitive games, not that there was anything wrong with that, but Shiro couldn’t help by maybe suggest some better games.

At least the kids were having fun.

At the moment, Keith was helping to apply hand sanitizer onto Pidge’s from the hand sanitizer that Shiro kept in his “Dad Pack” which was really just an outdated fannypack, as Lance had called it so delicately. Shiro’s expression was more one of reluctance than any sort of annoyance.

Lance was currently trying to shove Hunk up the small slide they were closest too and Shiro was thankful that there were hardly any kids there. Lance and Hunk didn’t seem to be making any progress in the six minutes that they had been trying while Pidge and Keith were washing their hands.

“C’mon Hunk, use your legs!” Lance grunted as he turned around to try and shove Hunk up on his back.

“I am! What do you think I’ve been using?!” Hunk cried, touching the tip of the slide with the barest parts of his fingertips.

“Try harder! You’re a leg man!” Lance said, face slowly turning red as Keith and Pidge finally finished. However, they and Shiro simply watched the two struggle.

“I’m a leg!” Hunk screamed, using the extra boost in his energy to leap off Lance and grab the edge of the slide. Lance toppled backwards from the momentum, falling flat on his back while Keith doubled over with laughter. Pidge’s lips twitched in a grin and Hunk finally managed to pull himself upright, before pounding his hands against his chest and yelling in victory. Shiro shook his head despite the cautious looks thrown their way.

“Me next. me next!” Keith scrambled up after Hunk, shoving past Lance who protested loudly at the movement. Lance was quick to jump after Keith, on his other side and race up after them.

“No! Me! It’s my turn, you jerk!” Lance yelled as he and Keith reached the top at the same time.

“Boys.” That was all that Shiro had to say before Keith and Lance’s shoulders had both slumped and the two nodded carefully. Thankfully neither had continued with their argument, but instead once Pidge had joined them, the four were racing off through the playground together. Shiro couldn’t help but smile when he noticed that they had all held hands with one another.

“Pidge, what’s your ETA?” Lance whispered loudly, with one hand pressed against his ear as if talking through an imaginary communication device.

“We’re in.” Pidge said just as loudly. She and Keith were both crawling across a wobbling rope bridge. Lance was hiding out on top of a swirly slide while Hunk was standing at a wheel that was attached to the side of the playground.

“Good, Hunk, how’re we looking from the front?” Lance continued, eyeing invisible targets. Hunk nervously continued twisting and turning the wheel.

“I-I dunno guys. I don’t see anything.” Hunk stated and Keith rolled his eyes.

“Since when did we make Lance the leader?” He mumbled under his breath and Pidge shrugged.

“Ah, the most handsome, dedicated and best pilot is the only one who can be the leader.” Lance grinned as he formed a pose that clearly showed off what muscle he had.

“Exactly. Why are you the leader then?” Keith continued, while Lance cried out defensively. He stomped against the sliding pouted with arms crossed over his chest, while Keith snickered and even Hunk managed a smile at the display.

“Stop being such a sourpuss Keith! It’s bad for the mission!” Lance argued loudly while Keith sighed. He and Pidge were just about to stand up on the wobbly bridge when it all went downhill. Pidge had eagerly decided to jump off the bridge and onto firmer ground, with Keith right behind them. However, the force of Pidge’s jump ahead of him made the wobbly bridge even more unstable. Unfortunately for Keith, that meant stumbling backwards, which was a small handrail.

And Keith had managed to fall through the bars, onto the ground below.

All of the air left Keith when his body hit the ground, and it only took seconds before the six-year-old found his vision going black and the last things that Keith heard was Pidge, Lance and Hunk screaming out for him.

Keith!

x.V.x

Shiro had been enjoying the time at the park. He’d managed to get through a couple of chapters of his book, while constantly looking up and listening to the kids. They were never out of sight and they were old enough that Shiro was able to stop hovering over them the entire time. Though, they were due for a snack break in the next few minutes.

Shiro had closed his book and was about to call them over when he heard the scream.

“Keith!”

In less than a second, he was on his feet (book forgotten) and he was sprinting to where he could see Hunk, and Pidge on the playground. As he got closer and closer to them, he could finally make out two figures on the ground. One was rocking back and forth, clearly panicked as their arms flapped wildly. The other was lying motionless on the ground.

It only took Shiro less than a second to realize that it was Keith who was motionless and Lance who was on the verge if panicking. By the looks of it, Pidge and Lance weren’t too far behind him.

I only looked away for less than a minute! How did I let this happen? Shiro could feel his guilty conscious creeping in on his thoughts and the idea of slight panic never seemed so real than it did in that very moment. All Shiro could even begin to think about was that Keith was on the ground. Unconscious. Unmoving. Possibly hurt.

“Keith!” Lance, Hunk and Pidge all stared with bright, big and teary eyes as Shiro sprinted over to them before kneeling beside Keith’s prone figure. It was even more worrisome that Keith didn’t even so much as flinch when Shiro dropped down right beside him.

“Keith, sweetheart? Can you hear me? Sweetheart, please open your eyes?” Shiro practically begged. His hands hovered over Keith’s prone body, shaking with fear, and unsure of what to do. Do I move him and risk it if he’s hurt his neck? Should I check for a pulse? What if there is no pulse? What if he’s not breathing either? Why haven’t I checked his breathing? What do I do?

“Keith, sweetheart? Please open your eyes for daddy. Please. Please.” Shiro begged once more and he heard Lance and the others beginning to shuffle beside them. Normally, he would have tried to get them to give Keith some kind of space, but Shiro wasn’t exactly in the best of minds at the moment.

“Keith. Please, sweetheart! Just open your eyes for daddy. You’re alright. You’re alright.” Shiro’s hands shook again as they stayed above Keith’s body. Even his prosthetic was shaking.

“I’m sorry Mr. Shiro! It’s all my fault!” Shiro heard Pidge yell from behind him. Despite the adrenaline and fear that was running through him right now, Shiro could feel his heart beginning to break for the little child. Oh Pidge. If anyone is at fault, it’s me.

Shiro’s mind was racing a hundred miles an hour and his heart was seconds away from leaping out of his chest. What do I do? What do I do?

“Please Keith.” Shiro whispered, voice cracking and yet Keith still did not move.

Calm down daddy. Shiro’s wet eyes blinked rapidly when he could hear a tiny, familiar voice floating into his head. His hands froze over Keith’s chest and his eyes widened. You need to calm down, it’ll be okay daddy. Just take a deep breath and calm down. You were trained in the military to act calm and take in the situa-t-ion.

Slowly, Shiro could feel his hands beginning to shake less and less. The world around him became less muffled and he could understand the noises that surrounded him much better than before. He could hear the other children crying all around him, as Lance tried to kneel next to Keith. he could see the small rise and fall of Keith’s chest from where he was laying.

Patience yields fosus. ‘Member that.

Carefully, Shiro took a deep breath and put his regular hand over Keith’s neck, where he found a steady pulse beating under his finger tips. Once more, Shiro released a breath he hadn’t realized that he had been holding.

“Lance, Hunk, Pidge.” Shiro finally spoke up, noting the way that his voice had remained calm without hesitation. He looked up from Keith’s slack face to meet the teary stares of the kids. Gently, He gave Lance a pat on the shoulder. “I know you must feel bad, all of you, but this wasn’t your fault. It was simply an accident and there was nothing any of you could have done to prevented it. We all get hurt.”

When he noticed Pidge opening their mouth to speak, he smiled softly. “It’s alright Pidge. This wasn’t your fault. Keith fell and it was an accident but he’s going to be okay. He just hit his head and it knocked him out. Keith will be okay. But I need you all to give him a little space, okay? Can you do that for me?” It took a few seconds, but eventually all three kids nodded and slowly Lance moved to stand by Pidge and Hunk. Thankfully, none of them left Shiro’s line of sight.

Just as Shiro was turning back to his son, he found Keith stirring and Keith’s cheek brushed against the tips of his fingers. Calming his frantic heart, Shiro forced himself to keep quiet as he looked down at his son, who was beginning to shift. He’s able to move all of his limbs which is a good sign. I haven’t felt any swelling yet.

Keith began to blink tiredly, until his eyes slowly opened half-way to look at Shiro. Shiro had never been so glad to see those beautiful blue eyes that reflected violet in the sun. Shiro carefully maneuvered his body so that it blocked the sun when Keith opened his eyes.

“Daddy?” Keith frowned in confusion when he tried to sit up. He was gently helped up into an upright position, where Shiro immediately began to poke and prod at Keith’s back, neck and head for any sign of injury. Other than a large lump on the back of Keith’s head, he seemed to have escaped with little to no injuries. Not even a bruise.

Finally Shiro felt like he could breathe again.

“Oh Keith, thank goodness my little star!” Shiro smiled softly and stroked Keith’s cheek.

“Daddy? What’s going on? Why are you here?” Keith asked tiredly and Shiro smiled.

“Do you remember what happened?”

Keith’s frown deepened. “No?”

“You fell off the bridge! That’s what happened! You fell right off and hit your head until you were asleep and it was all my fault!” Pidge pouted with big fat tears rolling down their cheeks. Shiro’s stomach churned at the small child’s guilt and he attempted to comfort them, as he pulled them over to Keith. However, before he could speak, Keith had wrapped an arm around Pidge’s neck before pulling them on top of him. Shiro jumped, quickly holding Keith and Pidge upright.

“Not your fault!” Keith huffed. “It was an accident so stop blaming yourself, it’s gross.”

“But I made the bridge wobbly!”

“It’s called the wobble bridge for a reason, Pidge. You explained why but I got bored and didn’t listen.” Keith said with a dramatic sigh. Shiro took that as a good sign that Keith would be more than just fine. Quietly, he began to grab an ice pack out of his “Dad Pack.”

“It was an accident. And if you blame yourself one more time, Ima make sure Zarkon gets you.” Shiro snickered at the horrified look on Pidge’s face and the squawk that they made. He was quite surprised when Pidge hugged Keith once more and Keith did not push them away as usual. When Shiro was just about to put the ice pack on Keith’s head, he felt Hunk and Lance both sprint past him before glomping Keith. Of course, Keith protested loudly, with a fake roll of his eyes, but deep down Shiro knew that Keith was touched by all the hugs.

“Aw, how cute.” Shiro snapped more than one picture of the cuddle pile before applying the cold pack to the back of Keith’s head. He grinned when Keith shot him a grateful smile and winked. Then he scooped all four children into his arms and held them close.

“Cuddle fest!”

#single dad shiro #single dad shiro AU #kiddie!AU #kiddie paladins #voltron legendary defender #thanks nonny #this was so feckin cute #i loved it #your brains are a wonderful addition to this AU #i miss this AU #this was beautiful #bc Shiro used to freak out a lot more #but Space dad must remain calm

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